DEPARTURES

Though this is Javier's fifth studio album release, this is only my second encounter with a Javier Miranda product. Based on my favorable review and impression of one of his previous albums, 2021's Strange Imperfection and the raving reviews this album is currently receiving, I've decided to give it a listen.

1. "Everything" (11:03) a repeat loop of two quick-arpeggiated chords from a piano over which various strange, unsettling 21st Century almost-industrial sounds are mixed, all the while the original piano loop is slowly fading into the background is not quite enough, in my humble opinion, to warrant a whole eleven minute song; perhaps as an exploration, but not for publication and a demand of consumer compensation. (15/20)

2. "In Transit" (9:00) another two-chord repetition ad infinitum. There is a mood, an emotional provocation going on here, I'm just not sure what it is (supposed to be). (16.75/20)

3. "The Descent" (11:04) another (basically) two-chord keyboard repetition over which some post-apocalyptic horror sounds are woven cannot assuage my frustration and disappointment. (17/20)

4. "Resurrection" (13:07) are the dissonant oscillations of a flange effects box really what Javier thinks the "in- between"/Bar-Do sounds/feels like? Then bring into the mix the fact that he uses the sound of some preset rhythm track from a cheesy Casiotone-like drum machine to represent the gradual rise of the resurrecting being is comical, even farcical! I do appreciate, however, the gradual and variable speeds Javier uses to represent the dys- (or a-)temporal "processs" that resurrection might require. (21.5/25)

Total Time 44:14

I'm disappointed with Javier's regression. A pre-occupation with two-chord baseline formats is not enough without further threads in the weave, without ample development over the top. This pioneering musician can do and has done better.

C/three stars; a rather disappointing and unsatisfying offering to the lexicon of Progressive Electronic music. Unfortunately, it is my opinion that the four songs here are not representative of anything of long-lasting interest to the music world.

This is the newest release by Javier Miranda, a talented composer from Spain who creates music that could be described as ambient, or prog electronic. Though I didn't know about his music until some months ago, I can say he has caugh my attention so powerfully, that I've listened to his whole catalogue a couple of times.

For this record entitled 'Departures', he gives us four compositions that share an avalanche of emotions. First we can listen to 'Everything', a piece that works with loops, so the repetition may embrace you or, if not in the mood, repel you. It has a peaceful atmosphere, but if you play it with nice headphones, you will perceive some other textures that provoke uncertainty or even tension, maybe this introductory track talks about all the emotions that a departure provide, the reason of the name "Everything". I don't know, and I am not familiar with Miranda's life, but judging from the cover art, I believe this is a very personal record.

''In Transit' is the shortest track here. It has slow rhythm with some piano notes and soft synth noises as background, and it continues like that for the whole 9 minutes. I am not sure if the transit he refers is just plain and simple, but lacks of emotions and surprises. It is actually like an endress two-note ride, but this time, boring.

There is a long 11-minute journey entitled 'The Descent', which seems to be a track about goodbyes, departures, death. There is a constant tension here, also it feels like being floating into the void, in limbo, like an anima in its judgement day. The tension increases after 3 minutes, the work of keyboard creates a dark but at the same time, kind of celestial sound.Then it follows the same repetitive path for the rest of the track, the good thing here is that despite having a plain rhythm, new noises and figures can be found every here and there.

The album closes with its longest track, 'Resurrection', the ambient adjective disappears here and the noise enters instead, creating a dizzy sound that make you feel like floating and spinning. Sounds like confusion, like trying to escape from something and feeling trapped, sounds like desperate. There is also a constant noise that can be annoying, but it may be the reflect of the chaos he wants to share, the chaos a resurrection might bring.

Well,this time I must admit I did not end up as happy as I thought with this record, I had enjoyed his previous albums much more, and was expecting for something that really moved me or made me feel excited, sadly, it did not happen here, however, it is a nice effort and I am sure it has a personal meaning to Javier Miranda, so as long as he keeps creating music and being inspired by his surroundings, he will surely create a masterpiece, sooner than later.