By
David De Michele
Written by
Steve Sheppard
David De Michele is a prolific creator of quality
electronic space music, so when it is announced that another new album is on
offer, this is always a major event I really look forward to, and I am pleased
to say that my journey through the stars via the medium of Cosmos VI the new album, was an utter delight that I enjoyed
immensely.
The first track highlights the start of our own very universe;
a small packed location in space and time would then soon expand though a Singularity, to the ever increasing
reality we see today. Here the artist delivers a breath taking keyboard based
composition, layered with harmonic vocalisations and swirling synths, where one
could easily imagine the dark textures of a black hole and then into an ever
changing singularity.
The cosmic winds of time allow us to drift into the next
track with ease; a gentle synth leads the way, one that soon elevates its
energies on the track Memories of Home.
David’s sensitivity comes to the fore here, and with the delicate vocalisations
and keyboard work, one can visualise how a new reality may well provoke
thoughts of our home, our little blue marble of sorts, this is without doubt
one of the most moving pieces from the album, and one that I am sure will make
a playlist or two in weeks to come.
Novus is a stunning composition that seems
to draw on the energies of a galactic birth, a star being born into the
universe, new light and heat for a life somewhere. This Vangelis styled opus has a wonderfully powerful refrain, and a
deeper vault of electronic wizardry, the slight pause and change at around the
half way juncture is a brilliantly crafted moment of sheer genius, and changes
the entire tonal ratio of the arrangement.
The next intelligent step after the previously sparkling
manifestation is Inertia, a property
of matter by which it continues in its existing state, here De Michele is at
his electronic best, and pulls off a song that does exactly what it says on the
can, it holds its course, and after the birth of a new star we are given a
foundation with which to view its glory, this is a classy and crafted offering
that is riveting to listen to.
Classic David De
Michele is up next with the midway track Parallel Worlds, swirling synths, and angelic vocalisations are all
setting the scene for a multi-universal creation. The delicious tempo and its
careful progression is utterly enticing, this is one of those tracks that would
be absolutely perfect for the opening of a Planetarium show.
Fusion continues on from the last offering,
but with a slightly calming musical narrative, the multi repeating modulation
combined with the flowing synths made this a deeply interesting track, one
could flow within its musical embrace, but then be utterly impressed by its
change in direction and tone, a wonderfully clever piece indeed.
We now flow into the labyrinths of Indigo Blue World, another moving opus of emotive brilliance. This
may well be one of the most expressive creations I have ever heard from the
artist, the peak, flow, and harmonies, are coalescing into an abundance of
reflective genius, the mood changes at just over the half way mark and morphs
into a true Vangelis Albedo 0.39 moment; this is a
startlingly powerful composition indeed.
It is inevitable that one day in the future we will find the
subject matter of this track in Extraterrestrial,
to paraphrase Mister Spock, “I like to believe that there are always
possibilities.” indeed it is logical. However I am sure that even the cold blooded
Vulcan would have loved every second of this masterful musical performance by
the artist, one that is both insightful and inspiring, and is electronic space
music at its very best.
Now time for a soundtrack event as we listen to Multiverse, this composition certainly
does have the wow factor. This track in its content carries in a forward motion
on from the piece Parallel Worlds in
its musical postulation, one common assumption is that the multiverse is a patchwork
quilt of separate universes all bound by the same laws of physics, whatever the
outcome this philosophical theme has been a conduit of discussion since the
times of the ancient Greeks. Perhaps
De Michele has created the soundtrack for that debate in this splendidly
powerful piece.
The last but one offering is entitled In the Silence of Space,
it is hard to picture the vastness of the universe, let alone the entire cosmos,
and in the most ambient creation from the album the artist achieves a classy
juxtaposition, one that has the vibrancy of his electronic mastery, partnered
with a softer fluency of a pastiche of incredibly superb synth work, this is a
top notch track and would indeed make an excellent single release with its
passionate and harmonic melodies.
So here comes the last composition and one that is also the
longest piece off the release and quite proudly also the title track Cosmos VI. The unfathomed unlimited expanse
of the universe may well be too much to comprehend, but through De Michele’s
concluding creation, the final piece of the jigsaw may well have been found in
its entire vibrational structure. This last manifestation of six and a half
minutes is a blissful coalescence of both beauty and electronic artistic
genius, and of course utterly the best way with which to conclude the album.
COSMOS VI by David De Michele is without a shadow of a doubt the artists most
complex album thus far, however the base and foundations previously set still
remain, but layer after layer of intelligently manifested work has been added
on top. This is the artist at his best, at his most fluent, and at his most
artistic. On COSMOS VI De Michele
has clearly gone where no electronic musician has gone before, by manifesting
music for the multiverse, the cosmos and the known universe into one startling
brilliant album, this work really has to be supported by all who listen, and
held up as one of the finest examples of electronic space music around today.
