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review by Dene Bebbington Spacemusic maestro Jonn Serrie has in a sense returned to his roots as a church organist with his latest offering. The usual spacey sounds we'd expect from this musician are here in abundance, but this time they're used to provide what could best be described as a spacemusic rendition of sacred hymns. At this point the non-religious (myself included) will probably, and understandably, be wary of this release. Epiphany contains ten tracks (all under ten minutes long) of which one, "Light of Thy Countenance", is written by Jonn himself. People who enjoy hymns will be pleased to know that several of those on this album are well known (even among the non-believers) and presumably well loved - such as "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring", "Amazing Grace", "Abide With Me", and "Nearer My God to Thee". Both a strength and weakness of this album is that much of it features Jonn's synth lines which are often airy and like sounds from an angelic realm. This is a strength because they are exceedingly pleasant to listen to, but a weakness because on some tracks it muddies the melody of the hymn with a tendency for it to become nebulous. Fortunately we find that on some tracks like "Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling" he uses a bell like sound to play the melody, making it easier to identify. The only piece I enjoyed listening to is "Amazing Grace". Even though I'm not a believer, for some reason this piece of music always sends shivers down my spine. The main tune is clouded a little by those airy synths which can be so lovely that they take the poignant edge off the hymn. I think the appeal of this album is going to be limited mainly to diehard Serrie fans. Okay, so it's nice to hear Jonn Serrie's signature synth sounds that are gracefully breathed across the soundscape, but I'm not really sure who this album was meant to appeal to - unless it was just those diehard fans. |
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