Voices of Wind By Scott Lawlor

 

Voices of Wind

By

Scott Lawlor

Written by

Steve Sheppard

 

Scott Lawlor has been producing some very emotive material for some years now, and with each release comes a steady evolution of style and construction, now with this his latest release Voices of Wind, probably sees his best work thus far reach the forum of this vast world of instrumental music.

The opening piece is indeed the proud title track Voices of Wind, here Lawlor creates something that the imagination can truly grasp and hold audience with, for those of us who have listened to the winds of time caressing the strength of a timeless tree, they will understand the incredibly powerful resonance of this track, the moving keyboard performance and the quite emotional voices in the wind on this piece, make it one of the best compositions I have ever heard from the artist.

Awaken in Dreams is our next piece, the audience of angelic voices breathes a harmonic tone across this dimension of tide and time, whilst Lawlor’s hovering keyboards draw a mist filled horizon upon which dance memories of the past, present and future. The added percussion is a brilliant addition that adds a film score sounding narrative to the proceedings.

The curiously entitled False Smiles in the Nightclub is up next, the mood here is actually quite tense, having not been to a night club for a few years, the last time I did, it had a level of tension and sharpness that I really didn’t feel comfortable with, not that my experiences have anything to do with Lawlor’s composition, just an observation. However that energy is here, of falseness in false circumstances and surroundings, and one has to admit cleverly portrayed by the artist.

The tone changes completely with this next offering entitled The Calm of a Kiss. Within this offering one can find a serene sense of bliss that is very appealing, the production quality on this piece was simply fantastic, a smooth and almost sultry song, that contained the essence of light percussion and a delicate and tender guitar.

A chorus of nature angels bring in the next song entitled Harvest Moon, this one captured my imagination, and with an eagerness I bathed within its realms for a splendid twelve minutes plus. The guitar and vocalisations were idyllic, and the ambience that the arrangement exuded was simply perfect, the track itself just making the occasional adjustment when needed, and the slight but clever elevation of energy towards the middle section, which reminded me in parts of U.S. Contemporary Instrumental artist Holland Phillips, was transcendent.

As we move deeper into this realm of electronic genius created by Scott Lawlor, we come across another particular favourite of mine and called A Crescendo of Silence. The ethereal qualities of this piece made it another stand out offering from the album, and one that I can see myself playing a multitude of times, and then that crafted floating energy on keyboards drifted around us all with a delicacy you would expect from world renowned artist like electronic supremo Kevin Kendle.

The Touching is a Bridge Between the Afterlife and the World Which You Left Behind is up next, this opus is what I would personally call a masterpiece of compositional structures and manifestations, a wonderful drifting sense of ambience can be found from the opening of the track, which with ease has one of the longest titles I have known, but not the longest. Once more the keyboards of Lawlor seem to swirl and dance with the female vocalisations, creating an arrangement of tenderness, but one that is without a doubt a musical vehicle of healing, and a journey cathartic in nature.

The longest track off the album at just shy of 14 minutes is a reprise of the opening offering and entitled The Pain of Blossoming (Reimagined, Live, April 30, 2021). This is a wonderfully clever idea and brings to conclusion a truly brilliant album.

Voices of Wind by Scott Lawlor has to be the artist’s best work so far. This is a far reaching body of work that is so beautifully accessible to all who listen; this will become an esteemed collection of great compositions that in my humble view could be regarded one day, as the seminal work of Scott Lawlor as a musician. Voices of Wind by Scott Lawlor is a must purchase album at all costs, and one of the best works of electronic music I have heard for many years.