ALIGNED: A Planetary Mantra & Gong Shower By Charleene Closshey

 

ALIGNED: A Planetary Mantra & Gong Shower

By

Charleene Closshey

Written by

Steve Sheppard

 

I have had a few personal experiences of Gong showers, each of them were simply breath taking and some quite emotional, others were perfect for the releasing of negativities energies. Here on this new album Charleene Closshey takes the whole matter a stage further and moves onto an interplanetary stage.

ALIGNED: A Planetary Mantra & Gong Shower is without a doubt an album you need to dedicate time to, it is so deep, powerful and far reaching, give yourself space and time, and just go for it, be solidly in the moment; from the very first composition entitled Sun, the centre of our solar system, we are gifted a piece that is so vast, that the nature of this red hot opener encapsulates everything and everyone with its burning energies, the Gongs resonate with such an intensity, while Closshey symbiotically harmonises with her blissful vocalisations in what is a perfect start.

We drift towards one of our smaller planets in Mercury, or in our islands Greek Mythology he would be known as Hermes, the messenger; here we find a blissfully delicate and fluent ethereal arrangement, the vibrational tones for me were quite high, and in some ways reminded me of the upper chakra resonances, however this would be one of my favourite tracks off the album, although that in itself is absurd as the whole album should be really taken as a complete journey.

Since Holst created The Planets, I have been enamoured by interpretations of the wondrous planet of Venus through music, here on the track Venus, Charleene Closshey brings a blanket of sensitivity to the party on her own invention, the angelic harmonics in this manifestation alone are enough to move you to the very root of your soul, the gentleness and thoughtful warmth within this composition are pure paradise, and the distant overture of tone something deeply delightful.

The contrast to the last peace as we now move to the track Mars was palpable, but in an almost earth element style, this is a track that is more grounded that the air elemental energies of the last piece, however there is something incredibly attractive about Mars that is totally addictive, and also very meditative too, there is a depth here that has to be felt as well as listened to in one of the most profound tracks off the album.

We now traverse the asteroid belt and arrive at what is believed to be the oldest planet in our solar system and known by its Roman name Jupiter, the bringer of Joy, and ascribed to the Greek god Zeus. This goes some way to express the regal and deeply spiritual chants throughout this stunning arrangement, it would be all too easy to get lost within the realms of Jupiter’s power, grace and sacred vibrations, at what is the longest track off the album at well over 15 minutes in duration.

Saturn, the multi ringed planet and second largest in our solar system, the Greeks reference Cronus to Saturn, and that depth of time and age says a lot for the compositional structure of this piece entitled Saturn, deliciously long form as you would expect, this arrangement has a well of ancient energies within its walls that make it so very appealing, the vocalisations and gongs come and go, whilst the crescendos deliver a time worn offering that is so vast and incalculable.

Our ship of tone and timbre reaches the world named Uranus, this icy cold planet is depicted with such class by the artist here, so much so that one could with ease get lost in its musical environment, this is a moment of tone and vibration that builds amazingly well, and then releases its timbre with a slow drift in the same way a returning tide does in the ocean, an outstanding vibrational moment indeed.

As we drift deeper into this quite otherworldly release, we come across one of my personal favourites form the album, a composition entitled Neptune. This was a powerful repose into tone, the vocalisations and gongs provide a safe pathway though what in my view is a crisp meditative arrangement, this creation has an amazing energy about its construction, and is also a piece that allowed us as listeners, room to enjoy the vastness of its musical creation.

Being old school, I still regard Pluto, out next piece, as a planet, however this icy cold composition is simply perfect in all of its aspects, I found this without doubt to be the most ambient constructs from the album, its relationship astrologically and scientifically with Neptune is an important factor, akin to this worlds size, this is the shortest track off the album, but one I dearly loved and deeply enjoyed many times over.

Our penultimate journey is an extremely interesting one, in fact until this moment I had never known of this goddess, but found my research into Sedna fascinating. Sedna is the goddess of the sea and marine animals in Inuit mythology, and I believe that the artist has created one of the most original new age styled tracks in bringing this quite mysterious and deeply riveting track into manifestation. When one listens, we can with ease visualise a calm and strangely misty ocean, a world where the mistress of the sea rules, and all can be at peace within her realm; this has to be one of the most stunning offerings from the release with ease.

From our solar system and onward, what lies ahead is Deep Space. This is our last composition off the album, but easily the most enticing, whilst it could be said that this may be the end, it could also be the beginning. Here Closshey’s vocals come into a perfect symbiosis with the massive crescendos of her gongs. This final piece is so vast and wide it creates an open portal to tranquillity for the listener, and of course a sublime way with which to leave the album.

ALIGNED: A Planetary Mantra & Gong Shower by Charleene Closshey has to be one of the most unique album of its style for a decade at least, the ever eager listener has almost 2 hours of Gong magic to behold, partner that with her vocalisations, it gifts the holder and listener a musical experience of tone and vibration that they are unlikely to forget, this mammoth body of work has certainly put the genre of new age music firmly back on the map, and this is going to be an album that should take the charts by storm.