Effectively redefining the way we experience music, the depths one can go to in the shared space with an audio composition that wholly and unequivocally envelops you, producer and composer Denkmensch has crafted an extensive new project of profound and powerful originals – which beg for you to surrender entirely to the sound and the moment.
Driven by an underlying fascination with space, the vastness of it, and indeed the abstract nature of the self, Travel To Star features two categories of song type. The first is the journey, these ambient, neo-classical soundscapes that allow you to float further and further into the apparent abyss. The second is the arrival at the star – this rhythmic, euphoric and energising burst of optimism and movement.
Already from the opening title-track to Alpha Centauri, this distinction is clear, and that back and forth between feelings and depths continues throughout the twenty-track project. More than this though, the first composition is so beautifully immersive and hypnotic in itself, that you know from the very beginning this will be an experience more than worth setting time aside for.
This journey is long, all-consuming in many ways, but the perfect antidote to a chaotic and crazy world. This is somewhere you can escape, headphones on and a willingness to fully submit emotionally to the music. Denkmensch’s Vangelis-esque, otherworldly manner of creatively composing and emotively performing is immensely captivating, and brilliantly in tune with what an audience will genuinely feel at one with.
As a composer, Denkmensch showcases a fine ear for progressions and intricacies all at once. There’s a clear understanding of what works, what impacts a listener, as well as a notable level of professionalism in terms of the details, the layers, the rising intensity and the breathtaking beauty that rains down around you.
From synths to keys, stillness to beats, waves of bass to higher-placed twinkles of delicacy and joy, there’s a supreme level of musicianship at work, alongside a natural and passionate connection to the art-form. The benefit of this approach is that the work becomes purely a gift to the listener. It’s no longer about the artist or his skillset – it’s about the audience, the implied adventure, the places the individual mind can wander to when permitted the time and mood to do so. As a result, every listener’s experience is likely to be something unique in itself, and this very quality is what helps make an album like Travel To Star such a mesmerising, beautiful, and timeless go-to.
Barnards Star is an early personal favourite, this shiver-inducing, blissfully uplifting composition slowly but surely elevates you in a manner that quickly washes away the weight of the world. Again, part of why it hits with such impact is the journey beforehand, the calmness and space of From Alpha Centauri to Barnards Star. You may find you wish to celebrate here a little longer before you continue on through the darkness.
What’s wonderful about this album is that any two compositions can be selected, perhaps even at random, and you know the moment will change your mood and your perspective with ease, and even prove refreshing or exciting in its newness.
There are ten pairs of experiences here, and each one offers a unique array of layers, emotions, colours, and thoughts. The heavy warmth of the beat on 61Cygni, the organic piano on From 61Cygni to Ross154, to the ultimate drop into ecstasy on landing once again – through the final synth-soaked seduction and optimism that is the elevating, illuminating Wolf 359, right at the end of the expedition. Everything about this is powerful, and the entire album in one is incredibly calming, comforting, and inspiring to involve yourself in.
The music isn’t here simply to be observed, it’s here to welcome you into this other world, to accept you as you are, and to hopefully remind you of how vast the universe is; and how overflowing with opportunity and life it can be.
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