Reflection By Lynn Tredeau

 

Reflection

By

Lynn Tredeau

Written by

Steve Sheppard

 

There is a point within one’s life where you become more reflective, more aware of the passing of time, ones age and that desire to look back at your journey taken thus far, becomes far more important to the musical muse; this new release by Lynn Tredeau has all of the aforementioned qualities above, and much more, on her latest album Reflection.

The simple art of gratitude is felt within the hallowed halls of this fine release, but also one of a pocket full of memories too, the opening piece really encapsulated this moment wonderfully on Tide Pools. A tidal pool is a microcosm of life unto itself, its residents blissfully unware of the vast realities of life outside of their world, in a pattern so grand and complex, a wonderfully artistic way to start the album.

Someday, Somehow gives us the ever eager listener, a wonderful moment to look back and smile upon, Tredeau’s performance here is classic new age piano, but her very heart and soul, pours it’s classy energies all over the keys of light. Here lays a piece that always keeps moving forward, on a cloud of never ending hope.

The rain is a memory palace of days gone by and memories shared, and on What the Rain Said we have just that, simply moment to just sit by the window and watch the tears of heaven drift across the plains of musical reality; this in my view is one of the more ambient offerings that the artist has created, which in turn gives it a real warm by an open fire feeling too.

On Dreaming Tree we have a horse of a different colour, one that seems to float like a mist across an early morning summer pond. Tredeau has brought into play a crafted and extremely clever sense of mystery and anticipation into the proceedings, and in doing so, has manifested a track that is both enticing and very compelling to listen to.

Meandering for me gave off all those energies of a timeless day in early summer, walking through a golden field of corn towards a babbling stream, and tossing pebbles into its shiny waters. The carefree and happy refrains on this piece were wonderfully received, and for me showed the artistic beauty of Lynn Tredeau as a composer.

Personally I love a trip up into the mountains, the sights, aromas and simple unadulterated silence is utterly blissful, and on Aspens of Targhee Mountain we have all that and perhaps a little more. The artist’s gentle but growing performance on piano creates a vast yet lush mood, as through her recital one can feel and sense this bliss filled moment of peace along with the artist herself.

So, we take out first steps into the latter half of the album with the track Deep in the Forest, the feelings of exploration of unknown places is strong within this offering and extremely attractive as well. Here the artist stops to give pause, perhaps to check her map, and then to move ever onwards into a world of mystery and imagination; without doubt one of the most colourful pieces of the album.

The Passing of Time is something we can never effect, however remaining in the moment defeats it, and the main reason for that statement is that on this song, Tredeau seems to have created one of the most meditative pieces that I can ever remember from her, this is a deeply beautiful opus, but one that allows the listener to experience an almost tick between the tock of the relentless clock, again the artists sublime creativity and intelligence comes into play here.

Time to roam free and wander wide with Nomad, there is a moodiness within this composition that brings about a sense of freedom, but perhaps from one who desires not to stay in one place for too long, and through this quite magnificent offering we are given a feeling of mystery and apprehension that just adds to the overall artistic brilliance of the arrangement.

The deeper waters of the release have been reached, and upon our arrival we can find a fluent offering entitled The Road to There.  I replayed this one a few times, and I am sure that lyrics could even be written for it, it’s that good. Tredeau’s touch on the piano is very poignant within this track and also quite moving at times as well.

The penultimate offering of the album is a truly sad creation and called Washed Away. There is a sense of reflection here that is akin to deep mournful awareness, much like all of your efforts thus far, have now come to nothing and have been washed away, however Lynn Tredeau is one of a very few artists around today, that can bring so much feeling and intent into what is a very moving musical moment indeed.

We draw to the conclusion of the album with a piece entitled Celebration, almost the complete opposite of the last arrangement. The joy contained within this song is almost like seeing the sun for the first time in weeks, and quite cleverly the final and finishing composition from the album.

I rate Reflection by Lynn Tredeau as the best work of the artist thus far; it is a heartfelt release of 12 beautifully reflective compositions, each and every one of them birthed from a sequence of moments we call life. There can be no doubt that she is constantly moving up the ladder of success with each album release, and Reflection by Lynn Tredeau could very well in years ahead, been seen as perhaps the album that elevated her status to the next level entirely.