Nightsong By Rick Sparks

 

Nightsong

By

Rick Sparks

Written by

Steve Sheppard

 

Rick Sparks has been on my musical radar for ages now, and never once has a single composition of his disappointed me, today I get the honour of reviewing his latest album Nightsong, and this could well be a very special one, as I feel it could be his best work as of yet.

We can glory in the title track first, I adore it when artists do that, the whole project is explained from the off, here on the beautiful refrains of Nightsong we hear natural sounds of the dark hours, a gentle flute sound, and then the magic that explodes onto the scene when Sparks first touches his keyboard is wonderfully palpable, this is the perfect scene setter.

Astra Lumina is our next doorway of choice; here the artist manifests a somewhat mysterious energy to this creation, twinkle bells, flute sounds and angelic harmonies are all in abundance on this stunning offering, this is one of those tracks from the release that truly moved my emotions, and as a musician, to hear a comment like that will make your day.

However I must say I have now come across a track from Rick that I am going to play for an eternity, I rate this to be one of his finest arrangements, it is called Sleep Walk. The harmonic convergence here is simply breathtakingly beautiful, of course a huge hit for Santo & Johnny Farina back in 1959, when I was barely 2 years old, but to this day still remarkable, like this very manifestation, this is so very classy indeed.

To follow up the last track with this memory filled song was a moment of utter genius, Rick released this one as a single a few months back, and it is so good to hear What'll I Do, on his most illustrious album. The song itself has much earlier energies that the last piece, but did appear in the ‘74 movie The Great Gatsby, anyone remember that? The song poses the impossible question of a lost love and why, but what Sparks does here is to make a wonderfully famous song so warm and tender, this version is like having a big hug from one you love so very dearly.

It’s amazing to realize that we are now at the half way marker of the album with the song My Valentine, if you just listen to the music, you may pick up on this Paul McCartney classic from 2012. Once more the master of melodic harmony is in full flow, adding such a level of serenity with his keyboards, to make this song a delicate pristine china doll of a composition.

Now you will probably know by now that I love ambient music with all my heart, after all I compose and record it myself. Many think it’s an easy thing to do, oh how mistaken can they be, holding in the energies to manifest something truly atmospheric, but without any distinctive melody, it is incredibly hard, but Sparks does it so brilliantly on Night Rain, at times this reminds me of early Kevin Kendle. The softness of the musical palette here is utter genius and simply soothing to be a part of, and well done Rick for getting the rain sounds perfect too, also not an easy thing to do.

I always love to listen to and write about a Rick Sparks album, there is always so much beauty and harmonious enjoyment to be had; this is a 10 track release of wonderfully tempered textures, much like this next piece entitled Hold On My Heart. Also for me, as a huge Genesis fan this is special, as it highlights one of the many huge hits brought into this world by the legendary Phil Collins. Here the song is a composition of reassurance, hold on tight and it will be alright.

The seemingly endless war in Ukraine as I write continues, and many compositions have been written about Russia’s illegal invasion of a sovereign country, but this one from the artist has to be one of the most heartfelt and brutally honest. Sparks piano simply tells the tale of the fact, that it is the children that will suffer and are suffering, and for no good reason, on the song Lullaby for Ukraine's Children.

The penultimate track is one I have bitter sweet memories of, Stings Fields of Gold. This was one song I had to learn as a part of my singing lessons about 10 years ago, the song is great, but not at all easy to do with someone who is tone deaf standing next to you! However this already startlingly beautiful piece is given the Sparks treatment by the artist, and we are gifted a sublime moment of serenity to wander through golden summer fields to.

Our last and final track off the release is entitled Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral, if your Irish you’re sure to know it, if you’re not, I’m betting you will have heard at some stage in your life, this is a clever way with which to leave the album, a classic professional move from Sparks, always leave the audience with a smile on their faces.

Nightsong by Rick Sparks is a musical collection of intimate songs that will allow you to relax, enjoy, kick back and chill too. On this new release Sparks has created an oasis of calm and done it in such a way it is going to seem both familiar and personal to you, with well-known arrangements of classics and brand new moments of Sparks genius, this is one of those albums you would be crazy not to have in your collections, as this could be the best work so far from the master of musical melodies.