Time Traveler By 2002

 

Time Traveler

By

2002

Written by

Steve Sheppard

 

There are some things in life that are inherently beautiful, their fundamental exquisiteness radiates across a vast landscape of tone and timbre, this is then known as a new 2002 album release, I kid you not, this voyage of musical plenitude is some of the finest work that the band have ever created, and in my opinion easily the most ambient.

Time Traveler is a 10 track collection of breath taking compositions, all lovingly created by the Copus family known as 2002. The very initial stages of this utterly sublime album are totally classic 2002, with its lush melodies and its colourful string sections, a tip of the hat there to stalwart James Song on violin. This opening song called The Morning Breeze could be from any era that the band has evolved through, and it’s a great place for us as listeners to start.

However when we arrive at Falling Stars we find a composition that has a delicacy all of its own, the harp and piano here are particularly effective at delivering a tasteful sense of bliss and happiness. The uplifting arrangements and segments add a gentle energy into the overall proceedings.

There is a now a moment of reflection that is so poignant and called Seasons Fade. I find this to be so more in the late autumn or late summer, when the changes bring an alteration of moods and musings. Sarah Copus has matured into becoming a fine musician on her own right, and here on the piano she composes something so moving and textured.

At times one can behold a piece of music, and name it as a transcendent creation that was almost outer worldly to listen to, Love Of My Life would be one track I would point to straight away, please take time to listen to a memory filled cello, played by the amazing Dan Totan on this piece, a delicate flute from Pamela Copus and the flowing tonal structures that drift across our musical horizon like a mist in late summer, the ethereal harmonisations are simply divine and unequalled.

So here we are, we have arrived at the way marker named the title track, and as such Time Traveler is a quality place with which to rest for a while. The opening of the track creates a somewhat mystical scene, a crossroads where time coalesces into a dimension of infinite possibilities. Time Traveler is probably one of the most ambient creations I think I have heard from the band in some years, but one that manifests something so intoxicatingly beautiful and attractive, that it is flawless in its overall arrangement.

As we step into the latter half of the album we have a question to be answered, is this the beginning of the end, or the end of the beginning, and with this next composition called The End Of The Journey it’s up to you to decide,. This is 2002 at their best, perfectly time crescendo’s, melodies from heaven, and a soft palate of sound that is literally both healing and serenely comforting, all topped off with Pamela Copus on an albisiphone.

Beyond the Veil truly does what it says on the can, here lays a journey of an ambient construct that manifests, builds and drifts back in time like a soft August ocean wave. Here is a lush offering that is a multi-instrumental haven of stunning flavours and tastes, one to simply bathe within and enjoy.

The Essence of a Dream is our next musical portal, Randy’s expertise on guitar comes to the fore here on a classic 2002 offering, the ethereal vocalisations drift over the lands of tomorrow, while yesterday’s echoes hover into a peace filled oblivion. Something about this track has film score written all over it; here is a piece that has a lush cinematic quality that is totally undeniable.

The penultimate piece can often be overlooked as an arrangement, at this stage the listener can be readied for the completion of the project, and if it’s done with style and grace, you have won the day, here 2002 have done that and much more on the Adrift in a Memory, the pristine production and delicacy of touch here on this composition is utter perfection, and sublime in its tranquilly harbour of tenderness and calm.

So we have finally reached the parting gift of Where You Are, we have been lulled into a bliss filled reverie thanks to the last offering, now with an hypnotic tone, supplied by the Theremin of Randy Copus, we can ride off into a fantastical dream like world of gorgeous textures and handsome tapestries of tone and vibration, with what in my view is one of the most unique conclusions of an album ever, and brilliantly done so too.

Time Traveler by 2002 is another new age classic of sublime quality, from one of the best known new age artists on the globe; year after year they give us, the ever eager listener, exactly what we ask for and what we expect, on Time Traveler they have fulfilled both our dreams and expectations in abundance. This is the album that the industry has waited patiently for in the garden of many musical colours for decades, and now it has bloomed exquisitely, and as it must now be at the top of everyone’s musical wish list right away.