Italian-Venezuelan composer and producer Sarah R Jay, currently based in the UAE, creates intoxicating audio tapestries that completely envelop listeners – the sort of intricately designed, colourful yet melodic fusion of genres that’s imaginative and euphoric to escape into.
Composer
Taking time out from his busy schedule, Music Director and Ableton Live specialist Conrad Askland – currently touring the globe with the iconic Cirque du Soleil – kindly stopped by for an interview.
An album authentically contemplative, musically eclectic, nostalgic but beautifully original – something rare and wonderful these days. Dreaming Man has captured a collection of moments that engage and enthral, with the superb album Passing Through.
Instrumentally pristine soul rock, with an intriguing progression from disjointed riffs through a wholly immersive soundscape and song – a composition and performance seemingly inspired by the limitless adventure of life.
The work feels devoted to its story, this prolonged melodic venture of changing emotions – rather than simply a showcase of the quickness and skill of a pianist. That approach is rare these days, and allows the album to ignite its rightful spark within the first few moments of listening.
German guitarist and composer Björn Donath masters the skill and emotion of instrumental escapism, with the eclectically played 8-string guitar and surrounding composition of Peace Within.
Cinematic mastery designed to humbly envelop listeners in a progressively intense, slowly but surely evolving blanket of sound and feeling – Hungarian composer and producer Zságer Balázs captures the essence of immersive audio, with the provocative, powerful and deeply moving single Esik Eső.
Aviram Spies ensures the connection between title and experience. A work that perfectly encapsulates the implications of its name – On The Edge of an Endless Forest takes you to precisely the purity and vastness promised. The sound is that of a nostalgic movie-made classical realm, familiar but unpredictable, and softly spellbinding to let play and surround you.
CYBERSYMPHONY is ultimately a techno and trance driven track, carving out an ever-evolving soundscape while these relentless rhythms and distorted synths maintain an hypnotic loop of contemplation and rising energy. From unexpected instrumental shifts to the industrial-meets-tribal tumble of the drums during the final third, the whole thing feels like an audio movie in and of itself.
Promising delicacy and warmth evolving into energy and possibility, Delayed Maturity perhaps quite wonderfully encapsulates the implications of its title. These gentle worldly observations, the quiet whistles and panning rhythms, depict a sort of youthful view of the world, and the later sections, as the intensity rises, relay a kind of confidence, depth and determination.
The immense weight of static appears as if like a sudden storm of power and presence. Those choir-like voices still linger amidst the outer layers though – a wealth of humanity clinging onto its calm and sanity, as the wires and weight of the future rain down around them.
“I’d describe my music as jazz, but in the widest definition of the word. I’m allowing myself to constantly explore different genres, including ambient music, funk, electronic classical/orchestral and pretty much everything in between. This includes music for film, TV and video games.”