Steve Roach - Back To Life (CD)

Release Date: 04/10/12

Timbral and harmonic motifs developed in expansive, shifting scores divided into distinct yet interrelated movements.

Back to Life is a masterful expression drawing from the realm of Steve Roach’s mythic imagination: an enveloping experience of vast beauty and mystery. These harmonically rich, multi-layered pieces breathe with an elemental ebb and flow; with the 2CD Back to Life, Steve achieves a new pinnacle within the ambient line of his oeuvre.

This is a new high point in Steve’s lineage of long-form compositions; the double cd lifts his style to all but symphonic dimensions. Timbral and harmonic motifs are developed and reworked over the course of expansive, continually shifting scores divided into distinct, yet interrelated movements. In the process, all facets of Steve’s artistic personality are highlighted. While the first disc is dedicated to somewhat more concise tracks (between the four- and quarter-of-an-hour-mark), the 70-minute Disc 2, “Mist of Perception,“ is an ambitious sonic exploration into an epic, disc-spanning journey.

The vitality on display withinBack to Life owes a lot to Steve’s fresh approach towards production, sound and creative inspiration, the result of a period of personal changes and the yearning to forge deeper into his evolving sound. After “hitting the reset button on the foundation of my life beyond music,” Steve returned to the studio with a vibrant energy and focus. Even the most spiritual and mysterious creations are marked by sensations of weightlessness and an airy, shimmering translucent tonal palette. Although foremost a soundscape-oriented work, rhythmic pulses are frequently embedded deep into the structure of the surrounding atmospheres. Serene yet suspended drifts and propulsive dynamics merge into a single texture. Back to Lifeis a soundworld where rhythm and textures become one; the potential for complex interrelations has significantly increased.

2CD in 4-panel ecoWallet.