Prelude For The Spring contains ideas of the transience of life, rebirth, rejuvenation, renewal, resurrection and regrowth, as well as humanity’s attraction to the unknown.
An abstract, immersive soundscape
Colorful spring garden flowers are always a welcome sight. Always far away through the winter, spring haunts the future. Soothing music is like a breath of fresh air. To set the mood for this audio experience (from the liner notes) “At the end of winter, the faint breath of life shakes the air as the world is still surrounded by the silence of death. The small breath will eventually become a prelude for the spring when all life plays fanfare and echoes to the world.” This is an invitation to meditate and calm your mind. Think of the year that has passed. Give freedom to the hardiest flowers like the crocus which bloom, sometimes while there is still some snow cover on the ground.
Seigo Aoyama has been playing the piano and keyboards since his childhood, from when he was 20 years old, in many pop, rock and jazz groups. The name of the label offering this breathless gentle sweet sound, is Audiobulb, and that name indicates the experience of synesthesia, a sense of sound as light, light as sound.
The snow begins to melt, swelling streams with runoff. Any frosts become less severe as the orchestra awakens, the heartbeat shakes as the spring is gently enveloping the world. The first track, “Overture / Loop” (03:27) creates an introduction, the season’s symbolism reminds you to keep anticipating change. The sun nourishes us and sustains life as it flows gently down on the Earth, providing us with the perfect weather to enjoy the beautiful outdoors.
Time enters a state of renewal ::
Somewhere high above, the dragons twirl slowly: “Botanicula (with Ilya Delire)” (7:03). Piano, welcoming windchimes, encased in ambient glowing synthesizer dust, and haunted by Fourth World ghosts, quietly overflowing with imagination and full of wonder. Peer through a microscope at a hidden world and feel like you’ve made the greatest of discoveries, solving puzzles, exploring the environment and collecting items that are required for any obstacles that will surely come your way.
“Helioscope (with Ilya Delire)” (06:26) stirs the restive soundscape, visited by ethereal vocals, floating around the dark sleeping breaths which maintain the atmosphere as very minimal chimes decorate the fragrant breezes opening slowly. Time enters a state of renewal, the nights are warm and welcoming. A helioscope is an instrument used in observing the sun and sunspots. A heliograph is a semaphore system that signals by flashes of sunlight (generally using Morse code) reflected by a mirror.
Spring is a time to embark on new journeys and start new projects with fresh ideas. I hear the boing-buzz of an insect, perhaps this is from a stringed ancient Japanese instrument. “Day Fly” (06:25) sustains the gentle pace of the musical flow, a day fly is sometimes called a May fly, a thin insect that lives in freshwater for about a year and lives as an adult on land for a few hours to a few days. Long notes ring while the boing-buzz instrument coils gently in the atmosphere, calling out to explore fresh opportunities, experiment, and think ahead of others.
Change is a principle of life. A new glowing atmosphere with vibrating tonal delights and rustling rain, in the distance there might be a transit station. The fifth track’s title is “6th March” (06:19), the air glows and eventually percussion troops in, rejuvenation, and rebirth, transporting the mood into a solemn procession.
Spring may also boast storms ::
A faint whisper of fallen leaves that are cautiously trampled on an autumn afternoon. Spring may also boast storms, as warm air from the equator combines with still-cool air farther north or south, the thoughtful mood is intact as the music flows onward. Footsteps on dried grass, there is no sign of a strong wind, instead hear some gently rustling wind chimes. A solo piano emerges with awakening lightness and quite lovely. “First Gale” (06:20) walking on the earth at the spring, at the end of the day, smelling the awakening soil, the earth’s triumph over physical death, with roots in older traditions. The blooming of cherry trees symbolize the transience of life.
Many cultures celebrate the return of spring, the blossoming of nature or the rise of the vernal equinox. “Equinox (feat. Yukiko H)” (05:12) piloting breathless piano, with gentle vocals speaking in a language I know not, probably Japanese, no translation is necessary to feel the mystery of aequus (equal) and nox (genitive noctis, night), the time when the plane of Earth’s equator passes through the geometric center of the Sun’s path, when daytime and nighttime are of approximately equal duration.
Picture in your mind, fluttering peach blossoms (including nectarine), most cherry blossoms, and some almond blossoms which are usually pink. Plum blossoms, apple blossoms, orange blossoms, some cherry blossoms, and most almond blossoms are white, flowering profusely for a period of time in spring. “Blossoms” (14:00) brings the sound of birds at dawn, an emerging glow with the scent of flowers drifting out of nowhere on spring nights. At dawn, when everything is asleep, the starlight disappears from the sky one by one, a crossover between the senses. Each landscape and feel becomes music and is scattered throughout this album.
Animals that spent the winter in hibernation come out of their dens, while those that traveled to warmer regions return. This Prelude For the Spring presents an abstract, immersive soundscape, suggesting that the air may lose its winter chill before the middle of March and eventually the earth seems to come to life again. This story is told within Seigo Aoyama’s impressionistic atmosphere. Many flowering plants bloom at this time of year, in a long succession. What most people call spring relies on the astronomical definition of the word, as the hemisphere begins to warm significantly, causing new plant growth to “spring forth.”
Seigo Aoyama is a musician/composer/sound designer residing in Tokyo. He had been playing the piano since his childhood and started his career in music from 20 years old playing piano and keyboards in pop, rock and jazz groups. During his career, he studied classical/modern music with a focus on 20th century composers (Debussy, Stravinsky, Messiaen, Schaeffer, Cage, and Reich for instance). In 2014 he started incorporating field recording into his contemporary, ambient or experimental music. He has released Prelude For The Spring, On The Drift, and Visible World on Audiobulb Records, and composed music for the other performers.
Ilya Delire is from Russia, she has 8 albums on Bandcamp, making thoughtful sounds from hidden action. Yukiko H has a whispering sweet voice that guides our emotions gently into revealing mystery.
Prelude For The Spring contains ideas of the transience of life, rebirth, rejuvenation, renewal, resurrection and regrowth, as well as humanity’s attraction to the unknown. The earth gladly receives the embrace of the sun, when day and night are almost equal and you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it makes your heart ache. Spring is the season of new beginnings.
Prelude For The Spring is available on Audiobulb. [Bandcamp | Site]
