Heaven by Anaya Music

 

Heaven

By

Anaya Music

Written by

Steve Sheppard

 

There can be no doubt that Anaya is a fine instrumentalist in her own right, my first encounter with her music was an album called Eternity back in 2016 and since then 10 years have passed, she now embraces new technology to manifest vast soundscapes, and her arrangements have become both poignant and touching, here on the album Heaven she immerses the listener into a project that is both deeply moving and palpable.

The opening track is in fact the title header and of course called Heaven. The strings are both emulated and orchestral in nature and are prominent on this and most tracks, thus giving the music a cinematic, orchestral feel. The idyllic sound frame one has of this mythological environment of hope is deeply moving and heartfelt.

Tracks like the flowing Ethereal give the listener a happy and uplifting narrative to enjoy, whilst offerings like Harmony in Nature offered another moment of enriching lyrical brilliance and an outstanding vocal pastiche on tonal delights. One can then move to one of the most fluent offerings from the album called Whispers in Harmony; this is another fine example of Anaya’s cinematic tendencies, as a veritable movie sound track is explored.

This release is a seamless transition from one milieu of beauty to another, Melodies, is a piano keyboard solo to start, and then it becomes a gentle duet with flute, supplemented by soft keyboard textures and gradually building with other instruments in a wondrous juxtaposition of instrumental fluency.

Tender notes can be found on tracks like Celestial with its neo classical roots, silent moments of reverie can be found here, an instrumental stargazing twinkling composition of great passion too, and reminds me of the work of artists like Kerani, with its lush and all-embracing sweeping melodies.

Harmony starts with an acoustic guitar leading the piece, strings in abundance soon follow in this more pop styled music approach, the perfect single for the 21^st century perhaps is on offer here.

Offerings like Afternoon sees the artists in her old stomping grounds, natural sounds of birds accompany her ethereal and angelic keyboards, and in some ways it reminds me of her early albums in texture. The penultimate piece is called Ethereal Dawn, once more that cinematic touch is found, but this specific manifestation has a more mellow vibration about its construction.

The concluding music narrative is the vocal based track of Harmony of the Spheres, in a song which is rare these days at just short of eight minutes in duration, but it is one that is utterly transcendent and the perfect way with which to depart the album.

This album is a sea change for the artist, embracing the technologies of the 21^st century and pursuing an instrumental narrative with occasional powerful vocalised tracks, this release should bring the artist many new fans and plaudits. Piano and keyboard foundations are central throughout the release, and then add sweeping orchestral scopes and additional flute and guitar passages, and magic is made by Anaya and her album Heaven.