Remembering Fireflies By Orchestra Indigo

 

Remembering Fireflies

By

Orchestra Indigo

Written by

Steve Sheppard

 

It’s only been a few years since I have been blessed with my first piece of music from Rick Randlet aka Orchestra Indigo, I remember it well back in ‘22 and a release called Farwell To Memories, since then I have seen Rick grow and flourish and expand his musical horizons, his ability to manifest good compositions and make them great is something remarkable for an instrumentalist, and here on his latest album called Remembering Fireflies he does just that and more.

This is a glorious 12 track album that starts with a charming musical narrative called Summer Nights, Long Ago, now I have only ever seen fireflies once in my life on a brief visit to Oklahoma, it was a thrill to see something so brief but beautiful, and this track is so moving and redolent of the subject matter, fluent and peaceful and almost transient in its energies.

The title track Remembering Fireflies, watching these creatures is fascinating, In Native American beliefs, the firefly totem symbolizes hope, joy, and illumination. It encourages individuals to unleash their skills and talents, attract the right partner, and keep their dreams valid. The firefly's light is seen as a guiding force, helping individuals find their way through life's challenges and achieving personal growth and success. For me this delicate track is an exact tender embodiment of this gradually emotional offering, and simply one of the best title tracks I have heard for ages.

Distant Lightning is a deeper piece with a reflective essence that cannot be denied, the strength of the piece increase’s like a distant storm, you know it’s there, but its approach is slow. The exceptional keyboard skills by Randlet here give us space to enjoy the ambience provided, with a thematic musical lead to follow as well.

The next offering continues the ambient structure and reminds me in some ways of the US instrumentalist Carl Borden in content; however the harmonics and symphonic adjustments manifest something more and the hook in the track is so utterly beautiful and totally encapsulating, on the track Evening Mist.

This mid placed track is so gleeful; there is something about Childhood Friends that is so heart-warming, I no longer have any left, but those memories are still there and they linger on those long hot summer days of innocence and fun. For me this track reminds me of that energy, and musically I would say this piece specifically reminds me of the US artist Rick Sparks with its ultra-loving tenderness.

We’re here, Star Gazing, do you remember gazing up in the unpolluted skies and gazing at the constellations, for me is an anthem of those times when I used to lay on the roof of my fathers shed and look up at them with wide eyes in wonder, the hovering synth in the back of this piece continues the tenderness of touch, and the keyboards create an almost classical narrative in a similar style to Pachelbel’s cannon.

The chord progression at the start of this next track Forbidden Places, reminds me of something from the ‘90’s, but as of now I have yet to pull It from the labyrinths of my tattered and someone what ancient library of my mind, but regardless, this is ambient magic and utterly beautiful, the pacing and slow progression is idyllic, then it came to me in a flash, and that aforementioned mental blockage would reveal to me that this beautiful piece was very musically like early Kevin Kendle from his Eventide album.

Sharing Dreams is a musical course change, moving into anthem mode with an overall gentle onward narrative by Randlet’s keyboard, and his sweeping and flowing synths manifesting a safe and calming musical environment for the listener. Whilst on the piece Keeping Secrets I found I could actually sing Elton John’s version of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds to it for some bizarre reason, I know, your dear music writer is weird, but it was fun, this careful composition though is a hovering arrangement that manifests a safe and secure musical landscape.

One of the most powerful pieces from the album is the following arrangement called Last Breath of Summer. I still remember the last days of my childhood and this composition would have suited it perfectly, somewhat sad, ever so reflective, and the string sections manifesting a tear in the eye as innocence fades into the oblivion of adult hood, perhaps Lewis Carol said it best when he wrote of Alice “So she sat on, with closed eyes, and half believed herself in Wonderland, though she knew she had but to open them again and all would change to dull reality”.

Final Goodbyes is our penultimate track, again anyone who goes through life will understand beginnings and endings of a personal nature are very hard to deal with, sometimes awkward and sometimes emotional, this last but one piece from Rick seals this perfectly on the plate of musical farewells. A misty eyed composition that is wonderfully composed and is actually rather clever as it contains a majority of sadness in its core element, but also a vague anticipatory tone of hope too.

The one constant in all of our lives is the love of our lunar orb and on The Mystic Moon, we have a superb parting gift of a composition that is a mixture of pleasing keyboards and confident and charming synth structures in a classic new age styled framing, if I had to choose one track as a single from this album this would be it.

Remembering Fireflies by Orchestra Indigo is a tender album; it is packed with 12 sensitive memorable opuses of which each manifestation is a tale all in its own right. Randlet is fast becoming known as one of the foremost new age instrumental musicians of the current age, and albums like Remembering Fireflies should be sought out by anyone who wishes to bathe themselves in a sanctuary of tone and timbre, and reminds them perhaps, that you and are like the birds in the trees, life is for living, and living is free.