Reflections By Shambhu

 

Reflections

By

Shambhu

Written by

Steve Sheppard

 

It’s a much appreciated thing, having the cadence of my day enhanced to such a level by the beautiful refrains of a truly beautiful album, but that’s been the way this autumn, one tonal delight after another, however the tree of totally classy music has dropped a further packet of delights today with the release of Reflections by Shambhu, and our lives are going to be that much better for it.

I personally rate the artist as one of the finest guitarists of his style in the world today, he creates lush soundscapes, he then turns them into ambient moments of meditative bliss, and thus magic is born. Now I have fond memories of Reflections the single coming out earlier this year and its tender tones are still not lost on me.

We then had a truly creative moment when fellow guitarist, electric in this instance in Leo Stienriede joined Shambhu, and together note by note they manifested something of pure natural beauty called Openings, this one was also released as a single earlier on this year, and like all the others a significant hit on the charts was indeed made.

The latest single release for the composer has come very recently with the gift to us music lovers of the timeless reverie that can now be known as Heart Bridge, the guitars in all there guises here are instruments of exquisite nature, and on this composition doubly so.

At times I feel I’m walking down a sunny country path with the artist, the lyrical tone and timbre of Sunshine Serenade manifest a true sense of a happy nature to be revelled in; this is a track you wish would never end as its gift of positivity is much needed now more than ever.

Our exploratory journey of the instrumental highways of our mind continues with this next track called Destiny which features Geoffrey Menin on piano, the flavours here are incredibly charming and usher forth a superbly balanced arrangement of acoustic guitar and piano, something not easy to do.

We now take a step into the latter half of the album where we find a mysterious creation entitled Wishes; the repeating motif on guitar is worked and crafted sublimely into the main body of the piece by the composer, so well in fact that the piece itself has a colourful Latin disposition that grows, especially towards the latter part of the composition.

The memory of this beautifully composed driving track called Montauk to Mexico with Jeff Oster is still rich in my thoughts, and his magical flugelhorn lives on long in this summer of ours that never ends, and of course another hit single from earlier on this year, its warming charm, the sensations from the mix of guitar and horn was always going to be a winning combination, and still is.

Starscape can be found in the deeper parts of this sublime album, the tone of Shambhu’s guitars on this track, for some reason remind me of how the acoustic was used by Jimmy Page back in the day on Stairway to Heaven, whilst Page utilised a Harmony Sovereign H 1260 for that iconic piece, Shambhu’s choice are Taylor Guitars, but that musical moment of magical wonderment and bliss is still there in this truly artistic composition from the composer, and you have guessed it one of my personal favourites from the album.

A somewhat shorter narrative can be found on the penultimate offering of the album and this gem is called Hope Eternal. The word hope has come up in my writings a lot lately and here it is again, and it would be the best present anyone could give us now, however combining synths and guitar Shambhu has manifested something quite ethereal within this arrangement and I would say it is with ease one of the most ambient pieces he has ever constructed.

We end our acoustic journey with a track called Woodsy Green; a light hearted mix of guitars and styles, making this a perfect ending piece indeed, and after listening to it, there is something about this arrangement that would make an excellent ending to a T.V show too.

Reflections by Shambhu is an album not to be missed at all costs, here is a release that will ease you out of any funk in your day, and lead you into a promised land of harmonic bliss and calm. Shambhu does this naturally, each composition he has released over the decades, has transported the listener to a whole new world of reflective serenity and peace, and here on Reflections he has done it again, allowing you all the time in a mode of introspection, to just drift once more in the flow of life. This release is that good it must surely be acknowledged with a much deserved award.

You can find the album here: https://ffm.to/reflections-shambhu