Ronald Van Deurzen-Seashells
Ronald Van Deurzen might be able to align stars with his music. A cinematic edge, superior vision and climactic compositional ability gives him an edge like none of his contemporaries. Deep, creative and engulfing, his music is of the moment and the moment alone. What he imagines is what we see, and that’s the mark of a great musician. This is his latest single, Seashells. When David Attenborough explains the beauty of the sea, I am usually taken aback. It is a world like none other, practically broken by the threshold of an element. We have explored the sea, but never experienced it truly. Ronald Van Deurzen changes that in many ways. If an instrument is to imbibe emotions without lyrics to help, it is much more complex. Radiohead might have done a good job with Blue Planet, but I would take Ronald’s immersive music anyday. With Seashells, there is a journey back to the origin as well, and the rhythm is felt like the waves. The percussion is soft and spreads evenly. Creating a reverberating wall of sound, it feels almost like marine creatures conversing. This is where genius lies, in conversing with the effect of the experience. Though as mentioned earlier, I’d have used this in many Nat-Geo/Discovery documentaries, the compositional skills deserve a standing ovation. Swelling and dipping, it imitates the ocean and relationship with the shore. Just like a seashell. His most popular track might be Hopeful Bliss, but all his songs explore the spoken word quality of instrumental music in detail. Follow him for more expressive, enigmatic music!
YO - Coágulo de un instante
Think of this: You are sitting by the window in a train. The world outside is a blur. You see pale gold and muted blues outside. The condensation blooms across the glass. In that soft distortion, you catch your reflection overlapping with the landscape: half-you, half-world. A song plays in your head as you make eye contact with yourself: Coágulo de un instante by YO. The song is a new age piece. It has a contemplative, ambient, and meditative tone. This is something that shifts the song away from the mainstream pop or rock tempo. The track title directly translates to: “Clot of an instant” or metaphorically “凝結 of a moment.” The mood leans towards an abstract, atmospheric, and reflexive feel. There is instrumentation that the song leans on and a deep influence on space, tone, and texture. The title provokes a strong poetic image. It sounds like something fleeting, coagulating, capturing a moment. This is good for emotional resonance as it gives the listeners a sense of the depth of the song. Because the song is a new age, ambient piece, it creates a mood rather than chasing trends. This makes the track a unique one that can appeal to niche audiences. The production leans on textures and ambience, and that helps the song stand out. The song is a collaborative piece between Carmina Alegrí and YO, which provides a great contrast to work with, allowing voice textures to add a new flavor. The song is a good fit for a movie like Arrival (2016). The song’s sense of suspended consciousness reinforces the concept of non-linear time and emotional clarity that the movie works with.