Review of Solo Andata [12k1056]

Fluid Radio (UK)

I must confess that when asked to review a 12k release I was already half way to loving it before I even started listening.

The label never puts a foot wrong to my ears and I was a fan early on, and loved how the label evolved and was so inventive. With that in mind I dived into the album on headphones late one night as you do…

The album starts with a magical interweaving of cello and violin instrumentation and is underpinned by an invocative landscape of beautifully celestial harmonies and field recordings/samples, all with a slight contemporary feel. This isn’t celestial in the newage sense but in the ‘nu-age’ sense if that makes sense. Angelic vocals are underpinned by an almost motor like chugging cycle which subtley ebb and flow through the soundfield leaving the whole album charged with a really nice depth of feeling and filmic like quality. It’s a very comfortable listen that leaves you wanting to stay for more, the type of music you can listen to on cycle for days.

The album at times shifts into huge vistas of cross filtered and convoluted soundscapes with a deeper more immersive quality. These merge with the sounds of the seashore and a subtle, beautiful harmonic dissonance that gently meet the spirit of air, and again its a wonderful place your transported to.

All in all it’s everything I love about contemporary “ambient” music. It has soul, and a perfect balance of emotional chromatic content and slight abstraction. Magical music and a work of beauty and harmony.

Review by Matt Hillier

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