PAINTING IN THE DARK

Steve Roach's "Painting in the Dark", the third late 2016 release, is slow paced intense as to demand full attention and time for it to flourish entirely to its avid listeners. Nevertheless what one encounters in its shimmering and mysterious long corridors keeps the attention span hooked by its creative flow and perfectly threaded transitions on each track (there are six) and between each other, which makes the whole experience both micro and macro conceptual.

There is a subtle and unusual encounter in some sections, composition wise, with contemporary classical music structures transposed to his own electronic music language of course, yet analog strings are present here and there as to make a clear statement of his inner drive and intention in those sections.

It is quiet amusing to mention that the impersonal, detached and somewhat unfriendly moods of this deep ride are probably its best attribute as they place the listener in unexplored cosmic territories in which common human emotions are no longer common thus enhancing its intriguing alien nature and its unorthodox and uncompromising beauty.

****4 PA stars.