Label: unsigned

Producer: Dreaming Blue

Release Date: 2005

Dreaming Blue have managed to create an exceptional album filled edge-to-edge with captivating and enchanting soundscapes, mesmerising vocals, vibrant and dynamic production, and intensely sensual audio delight!

Just when I thought it was safe to wade through the little backlog of CDs awaiting review, I picked up this CD in a mild state of alarm.. we'd had this package all ready to go on a number of occasions and I kept saying to myslef... 'OK I have GOT to give this album all the attention it deserves... we've had it here for at least a few months... and now.. at last... the time is NIGH! What hadn't really occured to me is the fact that Dreaming Blue was going to be an absolutely stunning experience just waiting for me to press the PLAY button... why oh why oh why didn't I do it sooner??? Sometimes, things come up in this business that you really can't avoid and things get pushed aside. On listening to this album.. I beg BEG forgiveness and absolution!

This amazing offering begins with the track Into the sun - a gentle ascension into the heavens with little packets of wonder sprinkled all over the place in the form of widely creative sweeps and percussion and truly magnificent vocals. It's a piece that drains negativity completely out of your system.. and some people pay LA dealers and gurus good money for this kind of experience! With Mystic Visions, your feet and toes and fingers work in unison with the driving beats and semi-industrialized rhythms that are escorted by Nessa's colourful vocal efforts. It's one of those tracks that you'd love to see performed in some massive open air venue complete with sweeping white and blue lights and an audience of delighted thousands.

Perfect meanwhile, is one of the albums most stunning anthems of escalating chill and soothing sweeps. I wasn't there when this track was mixed down but I know for a fact that they were having the time of their lives with this one... it's one of THOSE tracks... pure transcendance... pure bliss.. and you want more... much much more! Of course, Dreaming Blue do not disappoint... the follow up to Perfect happens to be Shine On.. five minutes of hi fi euphoria enveloped in some of the most incredible sound collages ever to be assembled over such a short time span. Nessa's rather angelic and soul engaging vocal gives new meaning to what many might consider to be 'ethereal' ... well it's so much more than that... and when you consider what's going on in the innovative arrangement overall... it's Grammy material... pure and simple!

Eternia is the track that took everyone here completely by surprise. With a rather mysterious and completely unpredictable slow paced opening, the track begins to unfold in an electrifyingly magnificent fashion seconds before the vocals sweep you clean offf your feet! There were five people in this office while the track was playing... only one managed to keep a grip on reality while the others went happily floating around the building in a state of sheer bliss muttering the words: 'Can I borrow that when you've finished the review?' Retaining my grip, the next title 'Hikari' really did do the trick! Here we have a wonderful blend of piano and bass opening up the first few bars until you reach the percussive strides that transport you to the other edge of the known universe. When the pads enter into the horizon, along with Nessa's supreme vocal talents, you are drawn into the lyrics like a bee to honey. I haven't mentioned the strength of the songwriting thus far because I've been so captivated by the musical progressions.. but the writing is indeed first rate here and everywhere else on the album. By the time you get to Jealous, Dreaming Blue have become embossed into the little hall of fame we all have in our appreciation of wonderful music. I love this track... it's a pleasant mid-tempo piece that is every bit as skilled as it's predecessors so far. I like what happens when Ian's keyboard arrangements come to the fore... one hell of a talented musician in every sense of the word and that talent is truly abundant here!

Shades of blue is, without doubt, a startling assemblage of sweeps and pads, choral turns, and illuminated vocals all settled confortably into Dreaming Blue's digital audio workstation heaven. There are plenty of reasons to enjoy this track... superb musicianship, production, arrangements, and a truly perceptive and experienced insight into what Dreaming Blue's audience would most want to hear... the thing is... I'm now a part of that audience and I want to hear MORE! Stars go by on the other hand exceeds any expectations you might have had from listening to the previous collection. I have decided that this is my favourite track so far... it's more the kind of chill I richly and selfishly deserve but Nessa's highly versatile vocal work here is what makes the track truly glow in the dark. Ian continues meanwhile to do what he appears to do best... make phenomenons occur at the swing of a couple of fingertips. Stars go by is a superbly synchronised collective effort and I'm wondering at this point if the following tracks are going to equal or surpass my delight here!

Dreaming away is the kind of chill up/down/in/out track you'd want to hear being played through carefully positioned speakers at the end of the night... talk about relaxed... it often gets hard to know whether you are enjoying one of the best soundscaped dreams you ever had or whether you really are floating approximately six feet above the sofa with the volume set to 11! Lillith meanwhile, is the remarkably atmospheric and brilliantly written track that brings your attention back to the skills and talents that have been combined to make Dreamng Blue a superbly electrifying heart and soul engaging digital audio experience. Vocals are so well arranged and performed that you are left in an occasional state of awe and the keyboard and percussion work involved has got to be very much a cut above the rest. What happens as far as audio delight is concerned, by the time you get to Magic Lady with it's enthralling electronica blessed with transcendent vocals, is another thing all together. Musically, this is one hell of an accomplishment by any standard... laid back, dark in places, and very very remarkably produced. Sweeping choral pieces are woven intricately into the chilled electronica tapestries provided by Ian's skill and expertise in a highly unpredictable fashion. Dreaming Blue have done very well indeed in putting this track together and again I am quietly demanding that, should this album ever make it to the stage, there'd be one hell of an appreciative audience and one hell of a sought after video of the event! You see, everything Dreaming Blue have managed to accomplish in producing this album could sit very comfortably with any number of diverse film settings.

Angels of Avalon tells me I was right all along... if you can merge innovation and inspiration with pure creativity and boundary-stretching compositional abilities... you end up with this kind of an album. It seems to me that Dreaming Blue are among the few that would regularly make this happen as a matter of habit. The final track confirms that this album has been a worthwhile listening experience from beginning to end and one that deserves to be played over and over again. My only negative comment is to myself for ever having allowed this album to remain on the shelf for so long.. Father forgive me... Dreaming Blue... I won't do it again... honest!

To everyone else... if ethereal, consummate chill out, and engaging electronica are all parts of your audio vocabulary and you think you've heard it all... I am telling you... you haven't...!

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