Norfolk Landscapes By Kevin Kendle

 

Norfolk Landscapes

By

Kevin Kendle

Written by

Steve Sheppard

 

Place the combination of the following into a project, the illustrious and glorious electronic mastery of Kevin Kendle, the sublime confidence and textures of Ian Cameron Smith, and a natural location in the country of England, the result is unbridled musical magic.

Many of us avid Kendle fans have literally been waiting years for this album to occur, the spaceman has landed and back to the musical landscapes of old we go, but now in Norfolk Landscapes, a place so very close to the artists heart.

The music is just dreamy and utter perfection; tracks like Felbrigg Lake will bring back memories of The Flowers album from 2001, with its gracious and flowing synth narrative and its immaculate melodies.

Headphones are a must, or at least turn the volume up for the most pristine and colourful effects possible, this is after all a cinematic pictorial journey you are partaking on, and with pieces like the ambience of Murmurations and Sand Patterns we are also gifted pleasant moments within the natural world, Kendle’s first kingdom, listen also on the latter track as an unusual addition can be found in percussion, whilst Ian Cameron Smith brings to the party one of the most delightful guitar segments ever, on a  truly soulful composition.

However when I reached Saltmarsh Creek I would find my personal favourite off the album, not just because I have a track of my own that bears some similarities in Seasalter Marsh, but because in both tracks there was a reflective energy that I adored so very much, the light jazz guitar of Cameron Smith was heaven sent, whilst Kendle drew from his wishing well of brilliance, one of the finest and most emotional tracks from his palate I have heard for some years.

Our penultimate piece entitled Big Sky hovered above and around us like some primordial ethereal mist, one that drifts on the very edge of time itself, and casts an air of deep mystery over all that attend and observe, this is Kendle at his ambient best, please take a little time here to listen to one of, if not the greatest synth performer of his age, bring you the listener, the perfect arrangement.

This 9 track release is brought to a conclusion with the piece Glaven Twilight, a creation that could easily be a musical relation to the proceeding composition; here Kendle winds up this amazing album with a memorable manifestation, one which shows off just why he is the king of artistic endeavour.

Norfolk Landscapes by Kevin Kendle is the release that fans of the Kendle/ Cameron Smith combo have waited for since Butterflies back in 2003; it must be said that Kendle’s appreciation through his music for one of the best parts of the country of England in Norfolk is beautifully illustrated, but one of the best parts about any Kevin Kendle album, is that the artists skills always take you right to the location even if you have never been there before. This is an amazing new release from the artist, and one that I personally feel very privileged to write about and own, an absolute must buy album can be found here, your musical heart would never forgive you if you didn’t.