Album review: ALIAS8 – Digital Sound Cinema

There was a real bloom of interest in ‘chill-out’ music a number of years ago and countless compilations came out, all guaranteeing to soothe your senses. Of course, what could have been classed in the same way has been around for a long time, gentle classical music so achingly beautiful and serene as to tame the wildest of beasts. Even more recently, artists like Brian Eno have been producing instrumental pieces that are a balm to counteract the hustle and bustle of the modern world.

Truthfully, a lot of the more recent output in this field has seemingly been nothing more than mass produced aural wallpaper but some releases just demand to be listened to properly as they wrap you in their warm sonic embrace. This new album by Alias8 is one such work, the craftmanship so sublime as to demand to be heard in headphones, simultaneously being carried away by its grace and engaged in the storytelling.

Capturing a very modern feel, ‘Digital Sound Cinema’ mixes electronica with more pastoral sounds, painting landscapes with a kaleidoscope of colours. From the trippy ‘Light in the Box’ through to the warmth and gentle light of the subtle and aptly titled ‘Luminous’ here is something that isn’t just a wash of New Age sounds, but harkens to the style of modern masters of European Cinema, packed with elan and a breathless cool but also full of warmth.

With some sublime guest vocals from Jade Ward from Cambridge folk masters The Willows on the gorgeous ‘Reflected’ adding to the sonic delights and the evocative and atmospheric ‘Café By The Sea’ to name just two, it’s an album whose many chapters take you on a journey that will be one you come back to time and time again. *****

Review by Paul Monkhouse

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