Her voice carries all the excitement, all the anxiousness and all the exaltation of the journey. Each episode demands different emotions, moods and tones delicacy and subtlety transit to strength and power, nuance and refinement transit to heartbreak to joy and celebration. Listen for the unexpected extras in each episode hints of an instrument, echoes of a sound, whisperings of the vaguely familiar and the achingly old which adorn and give body to the journey we are on. It is precisely being forced to stop and stare which keeps us on our toes. “She tries so hard / To let us know / Dancing in the Afterglow” (track 3). Nothing is rushed “look at this”, it says, “do you see?” The music takes time, it unfolds naturally, paying close attention to every detail, every aspect as we go.ĭavies has been here as well: “No time to turn at Beauty’s glance / And watch her feet / How they can dance.” Nature’s dancing feet are beautifully mirrored in the lyrical sway of the feet of a girl dancing in the afterglow of the rains, drops of rain dancing in shallow puddles. Each track is, in effect, an episode on the journey we are taking, a point where the music forces us to stop and stare. The infectious vitality of the interweaving beats enables smooth organic transitions as the spirit and momentum of the music chases the storm and its after-effects across the land. Tribal rhythms and traditional instruments are suffused with 21 st Century sounds, conjuring a seamless blend of images of the ancient land supporting modern life, with both seeping into and colouring each other. You find yourself comfortably, happily, enchanted. Even though ten tracks are listed, the album also comes as a single continuous track which Jones confirms as being the preferred way of listening to the music.īut when the music does begin, you cannot help but put everything down as you are lured and enticed into the world which has already been created by these initial impressions. Make no mistake, No Ordinary World is a hugely imaginative labour of love, thoughtfully fashioned and carefully crafted to provide a holistic experience. Ian Jones’ engrossing artwork provides a sumptuous visual feast for the eyes, each canvas betraying no less attention to detail than the music itself. The precise yet fluid positioning of the instruments throughout the mix reflects a meticulous attention to atmospheres and moods, the ways in which they can be created and conveyed, dramatically elevating the listening experience to new levels.Īs the music begins to play and vie for your attention it is entirely possible you may still be entranced by the accompanying booklet. The sheer spaciousness of the soundstage is stunning, the expanse and the clarity of depth in the recording effortlessly transporting you to hot, humid Indian plains and villages. No Ordinary World, the debut studio album from Chasing the Monsoon, is precisely that happy opportunity.īased on a book by British writer Alexander Frater which chronicles his experiences in 1987 of chasing the monsoon season across India, the opening few notes make an immediate and striking impression. But every now and then a rare and exceptional opportunity emerges to rediscover the beauty which lies all around us, a privilege offered to appreciate the world anew through the eyes, the ears and the music of another. The things which once made us stand in wide-eyed awe and wonder go unnoticed, forgotten. “What is this life if, full of care / We have no time to stand and stare.” With the ferocious pace of the 21 st Century and amongst the melee of competing calls upon our time, the mysteries of life fade into the mundane, the majesty of nature evaporates into the everyday and the magic of the world in which we live retreats behind the ordinary and commonplace. I have often felt the Welsh poet William Davies, writing in 1911, perfectly foreshadows the sentiment which underpins one of the key crises of modern life.
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