An album release from James McNamara brings out a lush and intricate soundscape that takes you on separate musical journeys, each with its own set of textures and atmospheres that come together and breed a confluent experience if listened to from beginning to end.
The Lunar Distance album uniquely blends rhythms, genre-bending songwriting approaches, electronic music, and more. It's all built into a record with a particular forward-moving flow.
What's great about this record is the use of synths and keys throughout its course. Yes, a lot of the percussion and rhythms play an intricate part in how songs come through aesthetically, but the tones and sounds chosen to put this record together are a huge attribute to what the songs give off in terms of their tonalities and moods.
"Space Cruise" is a track that has a well-chosen title because it feels like you are actually on a space cruise. It's got this almost reggae tropical vibe and rhythm. It uses these kinds of organ-sounding Island keys, which really give it that sun-soaked, breezy feel, but at the same time, it also has this vastness in its undertone.
This track is followed by another called "Gravitational Pull", which uses a completely different set of tonalities. This one has sharper synths that are more futuristic and bring to mind everything from synthwave to classic video games simultaneously.
Of course, a track like this is also much more upbeat and has a stronger electronic vibe altogether.
Then you have songs like "Weightlessness"; this track is completely different as it features more widespread synth pads that breed a slightly ethereal and atmospheric vibe, which goes with the flow of the record somehow.
One of my favorite songs on this record is "Between The Stars", as it showcases this almost vintage electronic songwriting style. The way this song comes together is brilliant because it's got this heavy-handed beat, but the keys are all light and drifty.
The song has a unique way of floating but still hitting hard simultaneously. This track makes me think of soundtracks to '80s fantasy films I grew up watching.
You can tell that some of these songs do have quite a cinematic backbone to them, and perhaps some of the inspiration behind them came from classic film or just film in general.
As the record unfolds, you begin to pick up on a certain theme. When looking at the song titles and listening through the record, you get more of a grasp on what it's all about.
Now, I could be wrong about this, but it seems to be a concept record and one that is about traveling through the stars in space. Seeing the planets and universe in front of you. The contemplation that goes through your head and how existential your thoughts must be during a process like this, and finally a lunar landing.
Soaking the record in this way is the best way to do it.
If you listen to the record in full, you can really soak in the experience that it's meant for. This is an album where you don't just listen to one or two songs because although they might give you a slight gist or idea of what you may expect, it doesn't give you anywhere near the full spectrum of what the album has to offer as a whole.
There are plenty of layers, textures, moods, atmospheres, and all kinds of influences and approaches that come together throughout the record, and listening to it all the way through is the only way to really grasp all of it.
Even if it's not an actual concept album, this is one you want to escape into.
That's what a record like this is. It's an escape. Even if you don't look at the song titles, you're picturing different things in your head as you listen. The moods and the textures of the songs set a tone, and it lets your mind kind of go free to wherever it wants to.
That to me is almost like a gift.
I love the diversity throughout the record and the different influences and inspirations that this whole thing is based upon.
This is also a record you should be listening to with headphones on. This is simply because it's one of the best ways to pick up on everything happening in these tracks.
Some tracks have a more stripped-down sort of approach, while others are incredibly lush and full-bodied with layers of great tones going on everywhere.
Listening to this with headphones is the best way to take it all in and let it swim around in the air that's around you.
It's a reflective and contemplative album that touches on different approaches in electronic and cinematic songwriting.
Take a deep dive into this record when you can, and again, listen to this in full.
Remember where you heard it first.
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