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Reviews

Kelly David — Illusive
(Spotted Peccary no#, 2021, CD / DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2021-11-14

Illusive Cover art

The wide panoramic chordal spaces and shimmering, glistening sounds that seem to be based on the beauty of nature are the trademarks of Colorado based synthesist and composer Kelly David’s style, as evidenced on this and his previous Spotted Peccary release Meditation in Green, from 2019, as well as a previous collaboration with Steve Roach, The Long Night. While Illusive is a logical next step on his ongoing path, it certainly shares much in common with his previous SPM release, and could well follow it on a path of inward discovery informed somehow by the natural world around him. Throughout, his musical soundworld is blessed with a calm mindset, one that drifts freely with dreamy melodies and textures evolving slowly like the starlight painted on a night sky, far away from the structures of rigid musical form. Along wi th his battery of synthesizers, at times one can detect the inclusion of sampled natural sounds that fold into the overall concept seamlessly. The album is comprised of seven mostly extended length pieces that a listener can easily get lost within, shifting between the colorful melodic and more abstract textural sounds, yet all seem to fit together seamlessly into a convincing continuum of shadow, light, and majesty, The opening piece “Sentinel” at just over nine minutes might well set the stage for all that follows, an intimate yet powerful floating swirl of ethereal beauty, marked by colorful waves ofl warmth, power and calm, with gentle sparkling sounds and dreamy percussives making an entry as the piece concludes. ”Garden of The Forgotten” opens gently with interesting, compelling textural ornateness that takes the listener onward through a mysterious cavernous world. The appropriately titled “Into The Ether” is a mysterious world of overlaid textures of motion and sweeping stillness, all with the effect of bringing the listener to the edge of the dream state, twelve and a half minutes that one wishes go on forever. Closer “Northcoast” utilizes recordings of waves to set the stage for a dark and immersive world that stretches out for a full album side.

Filed under: New releases, 2021 releases

Related artist(s): Kelly David

More info
http://kelly-david.bandcamp.com/album/illusive

 

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