Exposé Online banner

Exposé Online

Not just outside the box, but denying the existence of boxes.
Covering music from the fringes since 1993.

Reviews

Church of Hed — Under Blue Ridge Skies
(Eternity's Jest no#, 2025, DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2025-08-26

Under Blue Ridge Skies Cover art

Paul Williams’ interests with Church of Hed lie in relating real-world experiences and concepts into music, and like Rivers of Asphalt, which followed the old Route 66, and The Father Road, which took the listener on a coast-to-coast journey on the old Lincoln Highway, Under Blue Ridge Skies takes the listener on another road trip, though a much shorter one, on the Blue Ridge Parkway beginning in Virginia and following through into North Carolina, a total of around 450 miles — although at the moment there are still plenty of closures and long detours along the way in the aftermath of Helene, now in the process of being repaired. Williams takes us on this journey using his Moog Sub-37, MakeNoise O-Coast, Arturia Modular, and a number of other Moog, Arturia, and Yamaha models to provide his interpretation of the imagery that can be seen along this beautiful stretch of highway. While one could draw some comparisons with other artists in the electronic music, space-rock, ambient, and prog-rock genres, I am most often reminded of earlier Church of Hed releases like Brandenburg Heights, The Fourth Hour, The Fifth Hour, and of course the two aforementioned parts of this series, now a trilogy. We have a lot of beautiful roads in the USA so this could go on for some time — let’s hope it does! Williams has his own sound now, after many releases going back to the mid-90s, and he’s on his own wavelength that really doesn’t match the output of any other electronic artists on either side of the Atlantic or in Pacific. The album opens with the heavily-sequenced “A Blue Ridge Spaceway,” plenty of interesting sounds hiding in those waves, both melodic and rhythmic, real and synthetic. The faster paced “Abbott’s Fantasia” drops the listener into a swirling mix of electronics and overtly psychedelic sounds for a little over seven minutes. With “The Blue Ridge Electric Music Co” the listener is immersed in micro-sequences embedded within the longer, majestic elements that propel the track forward, a style which continues on “Our Grandfather the Mountain.” The closing tracks, “Across the Graveyard Field” and “A Carolina Elegy,” seem to convey a degree of sadness and introspection, the closer being almost symphonic in nature, at tome reminiscent of Pink Floyd’s “Echoes” but without the guitars or vocals. Under Blue Ridge Skies is a magnificent suite that evocatively paints the beauty of that scenic part of the American south.

Filed under: New releases, 2025 releases

Related artist(s): Paul Williams (Church of Hed)

More info
http://quarkspace.bandcamp.com/album/under-blue-ridge-skies

 

What's new

These are the most recent changes made to artists, releases, and articles.