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review by Bill Binkelman On Lumia Nights, Jonn Serrie (one of the founding artists of the spacemusic genre) continues crafting the lush romantic electronic music that he began doing on Tingri (1990) and continued making on Midsummer Century (1993) and Ixlandia (1995). Fans of his classic spacemusic recordings (And the Stars Go With You and the two Planetary Chronicle releases) will no doubt keep on scratching their heads (as they have done so since Tingri). However, those of you who, like me, enjoy a subtle fusion of electronic new age music, classic spacemusic, and subtle elements of light jazz (with a hint of lounge music) will no doubt delight in Lumia Nights. As with any Jonn Serrie recording, this sounds heavenly. Engineering and production are top-notch. Musically, some of the tracks have a distinct (but subdued) jazzy rhythm to them, such as the uptempo "Lovers in Motion," and the languid sensuality of the title song, while other cuts cling more closely to Serrie's drifting "trademark" sound, e.g. the rain-enhanced "Deep Mystery" which flows on floating chords, whistling keyboards, and other textures reminiscent of And the Stars Go With You. Still the overall "feel" of Lumia Nights is romanticism, which will come as no surprise to you if you read the interview with the artist I did a few years ago in which he stated how important romance was in his life. One listen to the soft and sexy melodies, midtempo chill-out beats, and twinkling keyboards of "Tidepools" will display that this is one artist who doesn't have any trace of melancholy or somberness in his music. While the album is not a one hundred percent success (the hushed female vocalizings on "Starshower" seem a bit over the top, although they don't clash with the cocktail-lounge- on-Mars jazziness of the song), I enjoyed every track to some degree, and most of the album was a real pleasure to listen to multiple times. Fans of Serrie's earlier spacemusic releases may or may not be content with the few cuts that mirror And the Stars…or Flightpath (the aforementioned "Deep Mystery," the cosmic drifter "Lumahai," which morphs into a Flightpath-like cruiser via the introduction of fast tempo beats, along with subtle wooden flute samples, and the closing track, "From Here to Eternity" which would qualify as pre-romantic Serrie with its washes of synth, celestial chorale sounds, and floating chords). Those who prefer his warmer more earthbound work (Tingri, Midsummer Century, et al.) will embrace this album with open arms, though. The spacemusic here will not deter their enjoyment one bit, I'd wager. As for me personally, I recommend the CD, because no matter what else, a Jonn Serrie album, even one drenched in romance, is still - well, a Jonn Serrie album. |
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