Solarstone — “… — — “ (Album Review)
With ideas like this in mind, I’d almost expect part three to take some sort of a wild twist pushing Solarstone into realms undreamt for the producer, akin to a third act over-embellishment. It’d be delightful to see Solarstone kick it off with a small handful of champions under his Pure Trance label as well. Or better yet, from other labels. It’d be complicated to manage, harder to maintain the vision. And yet, it just might turn this album series into one of the most worthwhile musical adventures in recent memory. —Review of Solarstone’s “.. — — — “
Huh.
So this one’s gonna be weird to review honestly. It’s pretty good, and there’s some stuff to talk about here. There are also some things worth worth bringing up that deserve the attention of any consumer. But the thing that makes this album hard to review is just the sheer distance we’ve covered with this thing and where it went in that span of time. I’ve listened to the third and final part of Solarstone’s morse code EP series at least five or six times by now, both with and without context of the EPs that came before it. I also re-read my reviews on the first two EPs and it’s really weird seeing the things I mention in each review and then thinking about this last album. The only way I can describe this before getting started is by calling it a strange scenario of rewarded wishes. I’ll just to explain it as I go. So, here we go:
Solarstone’s EP3 is out. The morse code series has come to an end with a bright yellow release that features a whopping 10 tracks that just barely break over the 1 hour barrier. And my wishes from last year’s review have been fulfilled. EP3’s ten tracks feature collaborations left and right from longtime friends of Solarstone’s as well as relative newcomers to the Pure Trance label. And they’re not just a part of Solarstone’s repatriate by way of appearance; for example Solarstone has “Slowmotion V” on this EP, a continuation of a series of trance tracks that have been made with Orkidea. There are pair-ups on this EP in place for the sake of making Solarstone’s album, something not unknown to Solarstone at all, but it is unknown to this album series up till now. This seemingly very self-contained, introspective, and almost narrative-driven EP series is evolving into something else entirely by part three. And while it’s definitely for good, it also makes me feel funny inside.
EP3 swings out the gates with a a sequel to Voyager built up with Robert Nickson. So far, the first track on each EP has expertly determined the tone, shape, and pathing for the EP in entirety. EP1 was dark, mysterious, introspective on “Leap of Faith”, asking us to explore this new and strange direction that Solarstone was trying. “Midsummer Nights” started EP2 on a lighter time, something hopeful and clearer, away from the foggy rough times of EP1, and the rest of the EP carried that same weight. So what does the start of EP3 mean? Well, this sequel to Voyager plainly states two things: Nostalgia and fusion. The fusion isn’t one of genres, but instead that of styles created from previous works. “Voyager II” starts off very similarly to the way EP2 does with an immediate crystal clear piano bit, played lightly and carefully. Synthy twirls and a light high vocal set an atmosphere of gorgeous stars before the 4/4 bassline kicks in. A scientific broadcast sampling makes an appearance in new fashion. Nostalgia plays its game while EP2’s clear stylings keep themselves the focus. But then, as the song approaches its midsection, the 4/4 pulls away, the piano recedes, leaving the distortion in the mids to be audible. As the track burns its way through the bridge, new heavy mid pads reveal itself. You won’t even feel it, but the track passes a point of no return as it jumps into its climax and suddenly the song takes on a vibe all its own, but slightly more in line with that of EP1s darker mode. It definitely sounds like something Robert Nickson helped on, but the execution is really a blend of EPs 1 and 2 creating something altogether new. It crescendos, the piano plays lightly, the operatic vocal lifts, and our voyage has just begun. EP3 is exploring the fusion of 1 and 2, and what is created as a result. Because of this I was tempted to do a search of what colors create yellow, hoping it was the cyan and magenta of the first two EPs. I was mistaken, but my Google digging resulted in me comprehending something else entirely.
Yup. That’s right. Solarstone’s triple EP album series has been utilizing the CYM color model this whole time, pre-dating Above & Beyond’s Common Ground album art style by at least a full year. We just didn’t see it yet! Also worth noting is this little excerpt from Wikipedia.
When the intensities for all the components are the same, the result is a shade of gray, lighter or darker depending on the intensity. — Wikipedia
And before you think I’ve really taken this review off the rails (even though it’s totally already gone), let me illuminate the released full album collection Solarstone has released of all three EPs put together into the now-so-obvious “One” album.
So EP3 is both visually and audibly allowing the listeners to be subjected to what happens when all three colors and audio presentations of Solarstone are combined into one. The result is the gray we see before us. Most would think gray’s a kind of boring color, but peeling back the music we’ve opened ourselves to over the past three years and Solarstone has proven it’s anything but, there’s layers of color in them thar tracks. That’s EP3’s design and execution at work. Nostalgia and fusion literally presenting the past and present of Solarstone at once. And it’s a pretty solid release.
The EP teeters back towards territory from the magenta album when “Slowmotion V” starts, using notes that are almost unnerving set against a slightly delayed 4/4 pattern that doesn’t quite gel with the bassline like one would normally do in trance. It’s never perfectly settling. If that wasn’t eerie enough to remind you of EP1, the vocal sample on this track asks, “What do you think controls you? Your body or your mind?” The purest “yellow”-type tracks on this EP are undoubtedly ones taking new directions or ones showcasing Solarstone as he is today. The fusion. EP1 was different, and EP2 was familiar, but EP3 is very much just now. This is really clear on tracks like “Rainbow King”, “Landmark”, or “Monkey Mia”. “Rainbow King” sounds like nothing he’s ever done before, focusing close on the bassline over his ever playful note progression alongside the hushed falsetto of Julie Scott, who’s expertly nailing this type of curious poetic state that thinks about fallen rainbows, a tragic idea that has never crossed anyone’s mind before. “Monkey Mia” hits the spot with Future Disciple and Solarstone making a tragic sounding piano progression chugger backed by child choirs. It’s not fast, but it’s impactful and expansive in the best of Pure Trance ways. In fact, the evolution and present sound that Pure Trance puts out through Solarstone’s curation is very much a present force on this album. This only makes sense considering how much the label and its yearly compilations have become a part of Solarstone’s daily operating life now. And that’s where “Landmark” comes in, where I have to refer back to another excerpt, this time from 2017 upon reviewing EP1.
Solarstone is humbly sitting on top of his label “Pure Trance” and watching the world of music continue to change around him. Solarstone and his label ensure that some sort of a landmark exists so that the sound of trance is preserved.- Review of “. — — — — “
I couldn’t have planned this stuff even if I tried. EP3 and my history listening to the two before it and reviewing them has been this weird rewarding thing where I’m unintentionally name dropping tracks and predicting future moves by accident.
“Landmark” was the early promotional track for EP3, featuring a collaboration with Lostly, an artist who isn’t new to music but wasn’t anywhere on the Pure Trance radar until early 2017, literally a month before EP1 came out. Here, at the last arc of the journey, “Landmark” is the most run-of-the-mill modern day Solarstone Pure Trance track. In good ways. Bigger, wider electro trance pads, a fast Solarstone note progression that keeps even temper for everything, those hi-hats guiding the bump alongside the kicks and a siren synth giving the track its crescendo past the bridge. “Landmark” demonstrates the Pure Trance part of Solarstone on full blast, showing the world what Pure Trance is. It shows how and why my calling his work on that label as a beacon, a landmark, back in 2017 has remained true even to this day, right here on this half-way marker. The album still maintains things that are also reminiscent markers of the Solarstone style. “Sky” is an absolutely delightful progressive piece revolving around a positive voiceover sample. “Endeavour”, co-written with Gabriel & Dresden, is exactly that sort of layered, thick housey trance stuff you like out of that legendary duo. “Spirit” with Activa is another Pure Trance anthem given tragic moods and a tech-y kick that won’t call it quits the whole time serving as the climax. And the electronica downtempo ballad “Indestructibe” with Betsie Larkin is sure to turn some heads before the album says goodbye with another tribute to Solarstone’s late father with, well, “Father”. That closer really feels like a standout here, Gai Barone helped Solarstone make a piano reverb environment that’s clearer and less lost in the fog of previous album chillout moments for Richard. The piano composition is one well worked over and feels like it’ll mean more to Richard than it could to any one of us, almost severing its ties to any tracks or EPs we’ve experienced on this journey. It’s just the right elements of distinctive and emotional that makes “Father” not an end to an album or an EP, but the end of a memory we never got to experience. I don’t know that Solarstone could’ve ever achieved that without the fusing of the colors and seeing what occurs at the crossroads of his past and present like this. It’s a remarkable moment all its own.
So what is there to critique now? Well, there’s the product itself. Individual tracks across EP3 are strong and well structured. The EP itself also progresses well as a listen on its own. But it’s when one tries to put the entire “one” album together that it becomes a bit harder to experience. From start to finish, EP1–3, this is an almost 3 hour album that stretches 26 tracks. And despite each arc of the journey being filled with great tracks all in all, EP3 doesn’t really keep the cohesion together by the end. EP1 and 2 have this strange personal journey vibe to them, which is where I found that narrative and progressive storytelling that I talked about in the EP2 review. The context of EP2 after EP1 was really well placed and made for a great re-thinking of the past. That really doesn’t seem to replicate here with EP3, it’s its own island and 10 tracks of good stuff. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s just some elements in the air that changed between May of 2018 when EP2 came out and today for the trance stalwart. Keeping one album from start to finish in the air isn’t an easy task, These Hopeful Machines wasn’t built in six months, but instead six years. And that’s just one 12-track album, managing the development, design, and creation of a 3-EP-based album that releases across three years and manages to work with or against the evolution of a genre all in that time frame isn’t very easy. Since EP3 also involved collaborations, that takes time too. It’s no wonder this last part took an extra six months or so to come out, it couldn’t have been quick or easy. Good things rarely are. And don’t mistake me, EP3 is very enjoyable, just moreso as its own unique third bit. EP1 and 2 still stick together really well like peanut butter and jelly. But EP3 is the dessert for us and Solarstone. A nice portion of ice cream after the wonderful feast beforehand.
Lastly, there’s the whole “album versions” stuff. This isn’t a major fiasco, Solarstone runs his labels on his own, I don’t want to give him a lot of negative spotlight. But consumers should make themselves aware of the fact that this is a thing now: Artists start multi-album (or EP) based projects that fans buy. And then when the project is 100% complete, the entire series goes up for grabs in its own version, its own packaging. The same is here. The “one” album is available to buy as one complete package in a box set for about $30, and I’m tempted to nab it. But I’ve also bought every EP along the way digitally for about the same price. People probably bought the first two CDs in sleeves because they’ve been offered that way as individual $10 purchases. Solarstone is at least trying to think about the people who bought physical copies of the first two EPs and offering up the box set with just EP3 and art cards in it so you can just add EP1 and 2 yourself, that’s going up for $20. Artists have to make a living, the streaming world is squeezing their money away, and electronic music producers / DJs sometimes have it harder than other artists out there. I just wish creators like Solarstone had better options to communicating purchasing plans to the consumers in scenarios like this so they know what they’re starting their financial and artistic investment in. I complained about similar things like this with Ferry Corsten’s Blueprint album, which wound up later releasing with an entire extended mixes version, as well as a non-voice-over version, things I would’ve liked to know about before the album came out. Instead these releases come up later after fans have already made purchases and can’t walk back their decisions, they can only choose to not spend more money and have a version of the release they like, but not as much as the newer version, or not support the artist. Again, Solarstone has created ways so that his fans have the best options he can give them it seems. But it’s not the best spot for fans to be in from a consumer standpoint.
And with that little PSA bit over, we’re at an end. I don’t know where I’ll go next. Honestly, it’s been wonderful seeing these little micro albums progress and change and evolve. Being present each year for it has been a treat alongside the fact that each EP has been a great experience all its own. By the time you get to EP3, things may not feel as fresh or new as EP1 and 2 did, but it is good, and together these three make one of the finer trance albums I’ve heard in literally six years. And that’s saying something. EP3 and honestly all of “one” are worth your time and money. Just try to enjoy them the way they were made, one layer of color and tone at a time, but not without the promise of the layer that’s yet to be added in.
