In the constant search for sounds and melodies that instantly transport you to a different realm, or paint vivid pictures in front of your eyes while sitting in your comfy chair, one can often be amazed by how close you really were to a piece like that, but always quite looked the other way, overwhelmed by the never-ending volume of music that exists out there. How many lives would it take to listen to all of it?
Moving along, this album here, and I don’t mean to sound pompous, even though reality often feels cheesy, comes from the shape-shifter Alex Gray - part of the Sun Araw Band, contributor to the improvising ensemble Dreamcolour, experimental psych-rock projects like Pocahaunted or Black Eagle Child, he takes on various shapes and monikers, that create ever surprising forms of music and mixed media, revolving around abstract, experimental, glitch, ambient, psychedelic and beyond. His releases seem to be mostly long pieces on his defunct cassette label Deep Tapes, mp3's and CD's on Changeimage.es (a platform of music & art that he initiated), but also a debut on Not Not Fun, and the Australian experimental-atmospheric Preservation.
The Deep Magic project, as Alex describes in an interview, came out of Dreamcolour as a solo endeavor. This beautiful cosmic journey of the Lucid Thoughts album is made entirely by Alex (with Robert Gray’s acoustic guitar contributing on the first two tracks), playing with synths, chimes, phasers and other effects, creating a sound that resembles the spiritual grace of Popol Vuh. Though they might sound drifty and too mellow, the tracks (entitled Minds in Lucidity I to VI) are very well crafted, without that blue-dark feeling to it, but more uplifting, dynamic and euphoric I would say.
From the first track you can feel that it transcends its ambient general description label, revealing with clarity a constellation of carefully encompassed sounds from beyond, sculpted into complete bliss. It embarks you on a journey filled with light and glow that manages to sustain itself and keep you on the edge, a 50 minutes time capsule.
There's more to explore on Alex and his ever playful sampling projects and curious collaborations, but for now, let’s explore his Lucid Thought in a cold, dark December evening.
Tracklist:
1. Minds In Lucidity I2. Minds In Lucidity II
3. Minds In Lucidity III
4. Minds In Lucidity IV
5. Minds In Lucidity V
6. Minds In Lucidity VI