Somewhere in Space and Time By Mike Clay

 

Somewhere in Space and Time

By

Mike Clay

Written by

Steve Sheppard

 

As an electronic ambient music artist myself, I adore to listen to other artists In the same genre, I gain great insights, I get great inspiration and directions to go to, and this new release by Mike Clay fits all those categories for me and more, it allows me to let my senses and my awareness drift Somewhere in Space and Time.

Clays first composition and our starting point is perfect, he has created the platform onto which many more layers can be built, Ambient Memories is both consistent in its tone and vibrational aspects, and gives us, the ever eager listener, a gentle drifting bed of ambience to flow with.

We can imagine that we are in a galactic Starship traversing across the infinite realms of space, and whilst we do so our sensors pick up the energies of a Comet Crossing our path, this would indeed be a marvellous sight, and Clay’s presentation here, builds suspense, constant onward movement and a mood of tempered excitement as we see this incredible visual.

I remember my dear friend Kevin Kendle composing his track Lagoon Of Eternity many years back, and this piece Cosmic Cathedral reminds me of that construct, those pillars of eternity rose like Cathedral’s in the darkness of space, this progression and creativity within this clever composition manifest a similar reality for me here as well; Clay’s synths form vast patterns, ones that constantly coalesce.

Time Passage is a blissfully brilliant opus; its dark reservoirs of tone and timbre reverberate with times of future, past, present and yet to come. The drone here is perfectly positioned and played, whilst the almost Berlin styled repeating keyboard motif brings us a sense of movement and onward energy. This is a piece that contains a merging reality of ambience and purpose, and as we enter deeper into the weave of the song, the intent of the piece becomes even more evident as we transcend to the very edge of tomorrow and yesterday.

We’re edging forever into deeper space and at this juncture we come across a track of outstanding natural glory called Beautiful Bliss. The harmonic convergence here is musical ecstasy, and a song that stands out for me personally, as one of the best off the album; one can perhaps feel a little Vangelis deep within the weave of this tremendous offering.

The half way marker brings us the piece Caravan of Time, once more Clay is in inspired territory, the smoothness of this performance cannot be stated enough, the gentle and heartfelt flow is like watching an ancient portal activating, the presentation has a tinge of reflection within its structures to gift us one of the most emotive and moving pieces off the album.

Memories of Space is a vast opus of sound, created with an incalculable universe in mind, the keyboard effects here drive the narrative into an almost endless nexus of possibilities, whilst the tranquil synths float and drift around us in patterns so grand and complex.

We move ever deeper into the album and as we do so we come across a track that is utterly undeniable and called Ocean of Stars, the synth patterns here draw us in slowly, then like a tide, push us into a region of utter beauty, one that has an almost anthem like quality to its proceedings, while the following offering Nebula Rising has the reverse energetic mood, this is a far more cautious and careful piece, but one that builds upon layers of wonderment as it manifests its own reality as an arrangement of great quality.

One of the most pleasing musical journeys can be found on this very track entitled Asteroids at Play, at times my reverie reminded me of a musician from yesteryear in Phil Thornton, perhaps mixed with a little David Wright, in a composition that is deeply enjoyable to listen to and light hearted in its overall manifestation.

We have now docked at our penultimate piece and this offering is called Clouds of Creation, a gentle, yet mysterious arrangement can be found here; the slow synth build is idyllic and sublime with reference to the subject matter, the performance on keyboards brought a blissful dreaming sound, one that floated on the edge of time itself.

It is indeed time to head for home as we arrive at the ending track of the album called End of Time, a light percussive beat can be found here, mixed with swirling synths and a mood of conclusion, a crafted piece from Clay and a clever way indeed to finish off a superb album indeed.

Somewhere in Space and Time by Mike Clay is a top quality album that needs to be paid careful attention to, the presentations of each of the 12 tracks are carefully performed and produced, to give each and every listener a veritable journey in space through music. Somewhere in Space and Time by Mike Clay is mysterious, exciting, moody and inspiring, and an album that is very easy indeed to recommend.