Hearing Visions by Orchestra Indigo

 

Hearing Visions

By

Orchestra Indigo

Written by

Steve Sheppard

 

I have had the upmost pleasure listening to the works of Rick Randlett, AKA Orchestra Indigo for some 3 years now, and each time the experience gets more enjoyable, and as a listener, one gets more invested in his creations. This has been the case of the last 3 years, and today it gives me great gratification to take you on another symphonic journey of great colour with the artist, through the medium of his latest album Hearing Visions.

The entire album is inspired by the artist’s mother, who experienced vivid aural hallucinations in the decade before her dementia diagnosis, now whilst I have had no experience of this as such, both my father and mother before they passed had some very bizarre and somewhat fascinating hallucinations before they finally moved on.

The album in its entirety hits at the very soul level of humanity, and Randlett’s stunning ability to manifest a quality emotive album is unmatched in this genre, as he is seen tackling the trying and hard times of life, and from it, painting sonic pictures of great candour and tenderness. This 13 track voyage starts with the melodious but rising track Emergence, and floats within the realms of transcendent opuses akin to Hearing Visions, a blissful harmonic convergence that is deeply questioning and explorative in tone.

Randlet’s use of keyboards on offerings like Reverie or even the short form narrative of the piece Chimera #1, paints a mystical picture of unknown origins, in the case of the latter subject matter, a Chimera is from the Greek hybrid creature from mythology; here the artist manifests a hovering sense of wonderment through his performance.

The Philadelphia born musician is a class act, the artistic endeavours he gifts us in the middle section of the album is both deeply moving and descriptive, like the anticipative tones of tracks like Through the Portal, to the more tonal sanctuaries of tracks like A Hidden Glen, a fine example of changing the energy to a safe musical haven of timbre.

Randlett is an artist that truthfully feels every segment of his musical creations; one can fully embrace that aforementioned statement when listening to offerings like Looking Inward and its drifting narrative, or perhaps the more upbeat account of the track Eidolon, this in itself is a fascinating description of the ancient Greek, as in our culture an Eidolon can be described as a spirit image from one who has passed or who is in fact still alive, regardless this gentle piano with synth composition is utterly beautiful.

One of the most mournful manifestations from the album was this following musical prose entitled In the Shadows. The soft pastiche and mellow keyboard structures build from the floor up, a whole dimension of an outer worldly peace, which literally leaves the listener with a lump in the throat and a tear in the corner of each eye.

Just to give you a writer’s perspective on an album that is this good, I have only just saved my work in case of outages, as I was so engrossed in this project I had until now forgotten to do so, so onward we go, and towards a piece we touched on early called Chimera #2, the Yin to track 4’s Yang, and following that entrancing tale furthermore into the arms of the deep waters of the release.

If music were hope, then I would point to this offering as a fine example of it, and called A Distant Glimmer. The beautifully created slow build and tempered progression on this manifestation here is literally transcendent, and is a composition that has a tapestry of tone that is very palpable and utterly calming.

Arriving at the penultimate track off the album is a wonderful thing to do, and here we are, and listing to the beauty of the piece Euphoria. The artist has birthed something here that is ethereal and magical, a composition filled with a glorious sense of love and light, a piece that allows us to drift into the ever loving arms of our concluding arrangement.

This final gift from the musician is a natural progression of the previous piece Euphoria and called Culmination, the creation builds wonderfully from its satisfying vibrations; Randlett certainly has left the most tranquil slice of optimism till last, with some classic new age styled keyboard structures and uplifting patterns, and is with ease this is a stunningly crafted way with which to leave the album.

Hearing Visions by Orchestra Indigo is a heartfelt new release from the artist and is one that should be embraced by all fans of truly emotive and inspiring instrumental music; it is an album of simply delicious shades and influences, taking the listener on a journey through sadness, confusion, beauty and anticipatory optimism, and is one of the finest examples of quality emotive new age music to arrive in this genre for simply ages.