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Current concise reviews of the albums by adult alternative, contemporary, and crossover artists. Images of album artwork and links to both internet-based resources are always included. Click on the title to view the article.

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Aeone - Love is the Healer - Cover Artwork
image © Pallette Records 2015

.: more aeone reviews and interviews :.
The Woman's Touch (2000)
Point Of Faith (2002)

Aeone
image © Pallette Records 2015

 

(14 September 2015) The stunning new release from Aeone (www.aeone.com) is a varied ten-track collection entitled Love is the Healer (Palette Records (USA), 2015) co-produced by long-term collaborator Jeff Silverman (www.palettemusic.net), who also co-wrote a number of songs and engineered, mixed and mastered the album. It follows two digital-only compilations entitled Many Voices (2012) and Atmospheric (2009) and is the sixth full length album by the artiste. Further background on Aeone can be found in Musical Discoveries features linked in the left-hand column.

Aeone's new album includes eight all new tracks, a stunning remix of "Scarborough Fair" from Many Voices and a remaster of "She Walks With Me" from the artiste's 2001 album Point Of Faith. Like all Aeone albums, this one includes at least one traditional number. This collaboration was truly a trans-continental production, with Aeone based in Los Angeles, CA and Jeff Silverman in Nashville, TN working virtually via Palette's Virtual Studio Nashville (virtualstudionashville.com set-up. In addition, files were transferred to India and back while collaborating with Ricky Kej, 2015 Grammy Award winner for Best New Age Album on the song "Boat of Angels."

Says Aeone, "Jeff and I have worked together on many projects but, [we] hadn’t worked on an album of songs for a number of years, so it was both an inspiring and highly creative experience to work with him again and take my sound and music to a new place. His imprint and input are absolutely apparent throughout the album."

Love Is The Healer is the latest culmination of the Aeone's artistic development and takes her music to an even higher plateau. The song and vocal work are extremely well-produced, feature both solo and layered stylings, and span Celtic-edged, new age and more accessible pop-oriented sounds with powerful percussion and rich bass. It is impressive body of work, each track superb in its own unique right.

Listeners will be drawn into Aeone's new album immediately with the density of the arrangement's rhythm section that has Jeff Silverman's 'slap guitar' as the central driving force. The vibe is perfectly set up in "Run Home" which incorporates atmospheric pads, piano and multi-layered vocals, together with a single pure lead voice. "Love Is The Healer" is the most natural evolution of the artiste's full length recording. Her vocals soar above the light arrangements in this gentle ballad whose rich chorus sheds a light on production that develops further through the album.

Aeone told us, "Musically, whilst wanting to stay true to the Aeone sound, we also wanted to take it to a different, more accessible place, yet still in keeping with the beautiful ethereal vocals, soundscapes and cinematic, mystical feel. So there is a strong percussive and rhythmic element to many of the songs, which along with sensuous bass, create a rhythmic and hypnotic bottom end to the mystical etherea. As always, I wanted the sound to reflect the story within each lyric, for a complete and transporting experience."

"Boat of Angels" is an especially dense and worldly number whose harmonies explore some of the highest vocals on the album. The anthemic closing chorus is especially resounding. "Where The Lillies Grow" is a gorgeously arranged a cappella track. The album's most pop-oriented track is the rhythmic "Who Wears The Crown." Clearly Aeone and Jeff Silverman achieved the desired effect with the dance beats that appear on the album.

"Across The Field" is a stunning example of the album's gentle new age ballads. Layers of vocals are perfectly woven with a wide range of instrumentals into a tight and lush musical arrangement. "Light The Sky" progresses Aeone's vocals to yet another density level, joining them to almost magical orchestral and soothing arrangements.

Listeners should pay close attention to the remixed edition of "Scarborough Fair" and remastered version of "She Walks With Me" that have both been rhythmically enhanced to suit the vibe of this new album. The hypnotic yet brief "Kyrie" concludes the album.

The 24-bit digital version of this album reviewed here was played through the Marantz UD-7007, Sennheiser HDVD-800, plusSound Echo+, Audeze LCD-3 play string in our listening studio. Digital versions of the album are available from manyl popular outlets globally. Love is the Healer is a wonderful album and we are most anxious for a physical because the album's beautiful artwork is almost wasted in the digital rendition. Aeone informs us that one may be released eventually. Be sure to check out the beautiful and extremely well-produced video produced in conjunction with the album's release.  

 
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