Upper Atmosphere By Ed Herbers

 

Upper Atmosphere

By

Ed Herbers

Written by

Steve Sheppard

 

The depth of a truly good space music album is its ability to allow the listener to roam freely within and without, to create no boundaries, only a vast oasis of sound that can be a galactic sanctuary for all who wish to immerse themselves within it. Ed Herbers has done just that on this latest release entitled Upper Atmosphere.

This 12 track collection of wonderfully picturesque compositions starts its journey off with an opener called Cruising Altitude, a perfecting starting place for our musical mothership, rising tones of powerful and insightful synth music takes control of our elevation, a dark rumbling echoes in the backdrop of an inky space time continuum.   

I’m blessed, I have two amazing friends who manifest magical electronic space music in my life, in David De Michelle from the US and Kevin Kendle from the UK, and elements of both of those music supremo’s can be found within the confines of this new release, the floating narrative of Exo’s is a fine example of the purity of a truly good arrangement of this elk, mix that with the following creation named, Something Is Out There, which gives us a question that is still unanswered, but is tantalisingly closer than ever before, the deeper tones here manifest an environment where the imagination can make anything come into reality.

I don’t know how I would ever imagine the feelings that a Spacewalk must bring, it’s like walking on the very edge of the razor of life itself, here Herbers manifests that mood brilliantly with a higher elevation of tone, bringing into view an energy of palpable excitement and trepidation, this classy composition allows us infinite listeners to drift into the open arms of the delicacy of a piece like Points of Light, or into the ethereal soundscapes of the almost Vangelis like Stratosphere, regardless this is an album that has it all.

There is moodiness about our penultimate offering which is called The Overview Effect; this cognitive shift allows us to see from a different perspective a view of great beauty to a transcendent level. This has to be one of the most powerful compositions on the album and one I loved dearly, if this track had been ten minutes long I would have still pressed repeat, it is simply stunning, and the performance from Herbers on synths is a work of utter electronic genius on its own.

The concluding piece is a fresh mix of track 9, and is called Splashdown (Accordion Mix), this adds a whole new layer to the original manifestation, one that gives it an edge and a sense of completion.

Upper Atmosphere by Ed Herbers is one of those albums you really do not want to miss, especially if you are a firm fan of all things space like me, or you just like truly good electronic space music, also just like me. It’s an album with fluent and elegant performances, mixed with a passion from the decades of looking up at night and wishing on a star, and as such it should be a huge hit on the charts, and maybe more!