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Reviews

Brannan Lane, John Gregorius, Sean O'Bryan Smith — Emergence
(Wayfarer Records, 2023, CD / DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2023-12-04

Emergence Cover art

Exposé readers who have been with us for any length of time should be familiar with a couple of the names of the three protagonists in this mostly-electronic ambient-oriented endeavor titled Emergence. Brannan Lane is an award winning composer and producer who works in the fields of ambient, world, and new age music, who also has worked extensively in television and film soundtracks; we reviewed close to ten of of his releases in these pages between 2000 and 2008, which represents only a mere fraction of the 60-plus releases on his website. John Gregorius is a Southern California based producer, guitarist, and engineer who played with numerous groups over the years, but in the early 2000s decided it was time to work on his own creating a more personal music, and after two independent releases, he has released four full length albums on the Spotted Peccary label. Sean O’Bryan Smith is a multi-instrumentalist and film composer, his career as a reco rding and touring bassist now spans over three decades, director of Artist Development and Relations for Wayfarer Records, on which Emergence is released. The nine tracks at hand feature Lane on keyboards and sound design, Smith on fretted and fretless basses and loop programming, and Gregorius on electric and acoustic guitars. The three composers put their best creative talents forward to create a combination of gentle and dreamy elements informed by the floating ambient styles, supple grooves and delicate rhythms, with moments of searing intensity and mystical beauty, with dramatic power over a shimmering cosmic backdrop. These guys have made many outstanding recordings each on their own, and for this type of music the trio configuration works superbly (think Tangerine Dream and Radio Massacre International, to name just a couple), they manage to muster even more creativity and diversity when working in a trio setting, and bouncing ideas off one another. Lane, Gregorius and Smith on Emergence have created one of those albums that holds up to many repeat plays, with unforgettable melodies and beautiful warm atmospheres, something that a listener can completely immerse themselves within.

Filed under: New releases, 2023 releases

Related artist(s): Brannan Lane, John Gregorius, Sean O'Bryan Smith

More info
http://wayfarerrecords.bandcamp.com/album/emergence

 

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