James Bright - Imaginal (Life on Earth)

You might have caught James Bright appearing in the blog at the start of the new year, and playlists thereafter, with some early warnings that an album was on its way? Well I'm pleased to announce that it's here, and it's quite the evolutionary leap.

Hailing from the north of England he's had steady success with his well produced Balearic-Nouveau leaning sound which I'm sure have helped soundtrack more than a few sunsets and beach bars around the Mediterranean - some even made it on to the esteemed Cafe Del Mar series of compilations.

The album starts with the nature attuned Gaeya riding a blissful new age of new age riddim, channelling earth frequencies through her vocal prowess to invoke the ancient gods to battle the forces of capitalism and help avert the Anthropocene. Next up is the warm, staticky, bass propelled journey into downtempo machine music of "Surface Tension", before the stargazing, deep space exploring ambient joys of "Opening", swiftly followed by "Human" which seemingly soundtracks a bucolic, untouched, life supporting planet that was found on the way.

"Stillness" sees the return of Gaeya, whose voice transcends this mortal coil perhaps to give thanks for life's simple joys that can't be bought, and are too often overlooked, this time soaring over a future new age meets cosmic ambient vibe that oozes contentment and good will. And so the LP continues bridging worlds old and new, tangible and imagined, earthly and cosmic, whilst shedding light on the universal consciousness along the way.

As you can imagine the days of nu-disco and Ibizan compilations have been put to one side for Imaginal. Hooky refrains and nu-disco basslines eschewed for precision sound design, higher sonic purpose and an altogether more astral approach to music creation, and I for one am all in.

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Playlist Companion

You can find James Bright in multiple TSMM playlists including the Slowtronic Selection.