Theta - Stream
World, New Age
Lleida, Spain
Overall Impression: With its interweaving textures and highly expressive melodic forays, "Stream" is a beautiful and thoroughly captivating piece of New Age writing that blends a vast array of deeply varied and riveting sounds and musical ideas together to create a thrilling and gripping soundscape that is an absolute joy to get lost in. Theta clearly knows what makes the New Age genre what it is and knows exactly how to entice listeners into the vividly crafted sonic world that "Stream" establishes.
Strongest Point(s): It's evident that a great deal of time and thought has gone into how the music can thematically tie into the title of the song. Like an actual "Stream", the music transitions through various distinct states to help represent the somewhat unpredictable nature of water and the many forms it adopts, both of a calm and erratic nature. The arrangement reflects this brilliantly and is in a constant state of flux, the opening for instance establishes a feeling of both calm and tranquility through the clever and subtle use of the piano and its delicate and graceful nature, however, subtle dark tonal hints in the harmony can be heard at 0:40, causing a slight dissonance that acts as a subtle yet significant hint to the water's unpredictable and dangerous nature. The excellent intervallic piano motif that enters at 1:24 is another excellent thematic development, this time detailing a more erratic nature that is further strengthened by bombastic percussive elements, these heavy-hitting drums help to conjure up images of water crashing and tumbling against the various obstacles it comes across, again, a fantastic way to use the instrumentation and arrangement as a means to signify a thematic element. The way the song continues this push-pull dynamic throughout is excellent and the constant fluctuation between moments of calm and moments of intensity is simply fantastic and makes for a truly engrossing listening experience.
Target Audience Appeal: This is definitely a track for New Age lovers, with its lushly detailed soundscape and fascinating textures I'm sure lovers of the genre will enjoy what "Stream" has to offer.
Artist target suggestions: David Arkenstone, Vangelis, Yanni, Tangerine Dream, Wim Mertens, Steve Reich, Constance Demby, Kevin Braheny, Mars Lasar, Nicholas Gunn, Kitaro, Secret Garden, Jean Michel Jarre, Mike Oldfield, Mehdi, Isao Tomita, Deep Forest, Roedelius
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About the Reviewer:
Andre Avanessian is a freelance session musician, composer, and sound engineer based in the U.K. Having studied music production and composition at a degree level, he has taken his passion for all things audio-related to a level that has allowed him to become both a competent musician and performer. Being a self-confessed "Guitar Nerd" Andre has been continually studying the guitar, as well as teaching it, helping students both learn the instrument, develop their songwriting, and how to become proficient in home recording.