Browsing Tag

Soundtrack

Revel in the petrichor with Lian Kyla’s standout piano composition, After Rain

Posted on 24 September 2021
Lian Kyla

Revel in the petrichor with After Rain, the standout single from producer and composer Lian Kyla’s debut EP, Dream Maker. Each soundscape is an expression of creativity and emotion from the Philippines-based singer-songwriter, producer and author whose work resounds as much on the airwaves as it does onscreen.

The captivating progressions blossom in the tranquil release that introduces you to the artist’s unique neo-classical flair which she carves out through minimalist minor-key notes and delicate orchestral swells. The score brings you closer to nature without you ever having to leave your living room. At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, it has the feel of a modern masterpiece.

Dream Maker is now available to stream in full via SoundCloud. Connect with the artist via Facebook & Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Orchestral composer Tony Manfredonia leaves us breathless with ‘Midnight’

Posted on 21 September 2021

Michigan-based composer and orchestrator Tony Manfredonia has released his Lost at Sea EP, featuring the modern masterpiece, Midnight. Even if you’re accustomed to listening to intense OSTs, Midnight is enough to leave you feeling like Alex in the infamous Clockwork Orange aversion therapy scene.

Tony Manfredonia spreads his talent between composing and orchestrating for video games, concert halls and the airwaves. His ability to command aural alchemy through colourful orchestration and emotionally charged narratives has allowed the artist to tour the globe with the Apollo Chamber Players, the Washington Metropolitan Gamer Symphony Orchestra and the University of Cambridge Concert Band.

Like all of his pieces, Midnight is enough to challenge your existing perception of talent. The sheer ethereal artistry pulsating through this orchestral piece is enough to trigger your emotional responses; when you throw in the expression of passion in this striking score, you’ll be left breathless.

Midnight is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Acme Corporation present their sublime musical take on T. S. Eliot’s He Do the Police in Different Voices.

Posted on 31 August 2021
He Do the Police in Different Voices by Stephen Nunns

‘He Do the Police in Different Voices’ is the stellar album-musical adapted from T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land by composer, theatre director and co-founder of the Acme Corporation, Stephen Nunns.

For those previously unacquainted with Eliot’s iconic ground-breaking work, He Do the Police in Different voices explores T. S. Eliot’s rocky relationship with his wife, Vivian.

The jazzy noir pop single, A Handful of Dust, brings Eliot’s fiery account of frustrated passion to life with the finesse that you’d expect from an accolade-decorated Broadway director. O’Malley Steuerman’s sultry vocal timbre holds no prisoner while resonating through perfect pitch over the instrumental arrangement where synths, electric sitar, and lap steel notes bring a gritty atmosphere synonymous with the beat generation. Ironically, Nunns emanated the air that Eliot was always considered too grandiose for.

He Do the Police in Different Voices is now available to stream and purchase via Bandcamp.

For more info, visit The Acme Corporation website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Janae Genna takes us ‘Down the Creek’ with her artful folk single featuring Alex Johnston.

Posted on 14 August 2021
Janae Genna

Down the Creek is the latest single to be released by the conceptually expressive singer-songwriter Janae Genna, featuring vocals from Alex Johnston. It was co-written by Janae Genna and Justin Brittain as part of the score for the film, Here Now. The accordant lullaby starts archetypally before the folksy single takes on an eerier tone, progressing almost in the same way as the cult-hit folk film Midsommar – before all the gore.`

Janae Genna’s and Alex Johnston’s layered harmonies give the otherwise minimalist soundscape a panoramically dynamic feel but as the single gears towards the outro, an uneasiness nestles into the release. The sense of anticipation it leaves you with could only be described as immense. You come to expect an ending akin to Nick Cave’s Where the Wild Roses Grow, you’re left with a foreboding unknown.

Check out Janae Genna on Instagram and YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Thomas Eggensberger explores the ‘Forgotten Universe’ in his latest cinematic score.

Posted on 26 June 2021

LA-based German composer, orchestrator and songwriter Thomas Eggensberger has composed for film, television, concert music and collaborative art; his accolades are endless and his latest score, ‘Forgotten Universe’, is sure to earn him plenty more.

Forgotten Universe exhibits all of the hallmarks of talent that you would expect from an artist that has toured globally and worked with high-profile names, including Wayne Sharp, Tom Howe and plenty more. But the emotion that bleeds from the wavering orchestral strings in the cinematically profound instrumental score is anything but predictable. The composer made light work of ensuring that by the time you reach the end of this bitter-sweet serenade, your rhythmic pulses will feel at a loss with the silence that follows.

Forgotten Universe is now available to stream via YouTube.

Connect with Thomas Eggensberger via Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Andi Reisner – dark espionage with ‘Die Zwei Brüder’

Posted on 26 June 2021
Soundtrax by Andi Reisner

Composer Andi Reisner was born in Köln in Germany in 1960, and currently has over forty television and movie soundtrack pieces to his name, alongside his founding-membership of new music ensemble Ugly Culture.

With ‘Die Zwei Brüder’, he’s delivered a powerful, disturbing instrumental neo-classical work which evokes images of film noir, monochrome spy thrillers, all rain-soaked streets and cold-war double-dealings. Dark, brooding, Bauhaus-inspired, and filled with impending-doom, echoing and sparse then fierce, distorted and upfront, Die Zwei Brüder – from Reisner’s ‘Soundtrax’ album – is potent, unsettling, challenging, and totally captivating. Inspired, disconcerting, stimulating, and provocative, ‘Die Zwei Brüder’ is quite simply an epic piece of instrumental noir.

You can hear Andi Reisner’s ‘Soundtrax’ album on BandCamp; check out Andi Reisner’s website here.

Review by Alex Holmes

 

Nizar Bredan starts a ‘Journey’ with his latest neo-classic composition.

Posted on 21 June 2021

Libya-born, Brussels-based self-taught neoclassical composer and pianist Nizar Breden has released his latest composition, Journey; through the gentle melodic crescendos, Bredan’s diverse cultural heritage emerges through the delicate score that is provoking and profound in equal measure.

By switching between dramatic, uplifting and tentative cadences, Journey is a score that will leave you hooked by its multifaceted nature, expressive textures, and Bredan’s ability to melodically flit between melancholy and an almost Machiavellian style of playfulness.

After finding influence in the wandering tones of Chopin, the circulating melodies of Tiersen and the evocative works Ólafur Arnalds, Ludovico Einaudi and Nils Frahm, Bredan discernibly found his signature style that will easily enamour any fans of the aforementioned.

Journey is the first of the singles to come from his new series of original compositions; the rest are due to follow throughout 2021 and 2022.

Journey is now available to stream via Spotify.

Billy Moffat has released his symphonic masterpiece, Through the Eyes of God, featuring Davie Brockett.

Posted on 19 June 2021

Scottish-born composer Billy Moffat brought plenty of his experience touring the globe with the show, One Night of Queen, to his latest release, Through the Eyes of God, featuring Davie Brockett on guitar.

Starting with dramatic neo-classic keys, there are no hints in the production to warn that the stunning crescendos will soon give way to over-driven scuzzed-up guitar solos that easily match the furore in an Apocalyptica track. Davie Brockett’s searing solos blazon the professional instrumental score with even more virtuosic stripes.

Though the Eyes of God is, quite literally, a jaw-droppingly symphonic masterpiece that will easily leave you ensnared by the sheer nuance and Moffat’s ability to compose a score that will put your rhythmic pulses under instant command.

The orchestral release is now available to stream via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia

Lee Olivier-Hall – This is Only the Beginning: A Conceptually Profound Neo-Classic Account of Lockdown-Melancholy

Posted on 4 June 2021

Artist and composer Lee Olivier-Hall is set to release his most candid work to date. His EP ‘Moments in Sound’ was written during the pandemic as the film composer captured the emotional impact of uncertainty, fear and isolation.

The conceptual duplicity of the lead single, This is Only the Beginning, plays with our newly found pessimism and fear of beginnings as the tender ambient neo-classic keys reflect the fragility of our optimism. The use of spatial effect and instrumental minimalism is devastatingly profound as it mimics the hollow, vacuous nature of our new world.

Since graduating from BIMM London, the artist has primarily focused on composing for film, his experience scoring for film reflects in the visual nature of the four-track EP which is easily one of the most stunning accounts of lockdown melancholy.

This is Only the Beginning will be available to stream and purchase on all major platforms from June 4th. In the meantime, you can check out Lee Olivier-Hall via his website, Instagram or Facebook.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Inspiring Sounds: The Fade ’11 have us in raptures with delightful ‘Frost’

Posted on 6 May 2021

As bravely dealing with fighting cancer in a pandemic world whilst apart from each other, The Fade ’11 warms up our hearts on the peaceful new single that will you give you a bit of a shiver, but shall ultimately have you feeling hopeful on ‘Frost‘.

The Fade ’11 is a new two piece soundtrack rock duo pieced together by brothers Dan and Andrew, who bring us their soundtrack to life with all the highs and lows. They perform with so much class throughout this incredible experience.

”Without words, this tells our story. This is our soundtrack of love, anger, fear, hope, defeat and triumph. From the highs to the lows. For the lost and the found and the journey in between. To Life.” – The Fade ’11

The soundscape here sends your soul to a place far away from the madness, with a thriving piece of art that is so cinematic and wonderfully pure and loving.

‘Frost‘ from the soulful two-piece soundtrack ambient brother duo The Fade ’11, heats up your mind with crisply cool instrumentals that takes you to a new positive land with promise, that has you in a mood to achieve your goals. With an album on the way, you feel like you have just found a peaceful outlet to unplug from the world to.

Stream this new single here on Spotify and see more on the IG.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen