*blows dust off* WOAH! I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last entry.
So there is no more time to waste... Let's take a look at an incredible musical masterpiece.
Romantic Works - Keaton Henson
Keaton Henson is a folk rock musician, visual artist and poet from London. Despite of all his talent he suffers from stage fright - at any rate all of his works are highly coveted.
Obviously he can over-wind his fear, which encourages me a little! On 16th June 2014 he performed at Queen Elizabeth Hall, earlier on this day he released his third album.
In comparison to the previous partly-rock-album Birthdays (2013) Romantic Works sounds classy and profound, the corporation with the cellist Ren Ford might be the reason.
Keaton said he was inspired by the repetition and simplicity of the likes of Arvo Pärt and Phillip Glass. It's wonderful to see a musician change genres!
There are for the first time of his albums no vocals and it is not missing out on personal in-put.
Track list
1. Preface
2. Elevator Song
3. Healah Dancing
4. Field
5. Josella
6. Petrichor
7. Earnestly Yours
8. Nearly Curtains
9. Emissary
Romantic? No way, the first super-short track with only 58 seconds,
Preface, starts off with dark layers and even distorted sounds of a cello.
Following, the
Elevator Song creates a smooth Hans Zimmer-like atmosphere which permeates throughout the album. Magnificent.
Healah Dancing reminds me on the Memoirs of a Geisha OST in the first minute, but the progressive modulation creates a unique masterpiece.
Next we hear the story-telling composition
Field, the cello is just warm and very well-played. The chords are picked carefully and therefore sound comfortable.
Josella has some sort of religious character with that choir-layer in the background around minute 2. The few sounds of the glockenspiel round it off, however!
The name
Petrichor - the scent of rain on dry earth describes the song perfectly. A simple structured song with minimalist elements manages to melodize the best moments in life.
Earnestly Yours is a typical piano song with lyrical character, finding complete expression in the final minutes with the cello that is underlining the mood admirably .
Pure and simple sounds the piano melody of the following song
Nearly Curtains, the background noises like birds' twittering or thunder are nicely positioned.
The end of the tunnel is near - this might be the words of the
Emissary. A dark melancholic ending song concludes this album in a dignified manner.
Although I would not consider this album to be "romantic" I strongly believe that it's worth a listen, especially for all those who enjoy neo-classical music.
What impresses me personally is the fact that the artist Keaton Henson, who got produced alternative/folk songs, created such a wonderful instrumental album.
I appreciate the high quality of this record and for this reason consider it to be one of the best albums of 2014.