A beautifully, serious piece of music.
5
By Stevie. D
Under The Sun is the first full-length LP by Mark Pritchard. Mr. Pritchard has been making various styles of electronic music for nearly thirty years, and is also considered by many to posses musical ability - far beyond that of almost all contemporaries.
If you haven't yet familiarized yourself with MP's vast expanse of back catalogue, then now is yet another moment in time to come on-in!
There's an old saying, that 'it's the quiet ones, you have to look out for', and not to beat around the bush, but after experiencing Under The Sun, both sonically (and as importantly), by the equally visually - mesmerizing A/V footage by Jonathan Zawada, I feel it's only fair to state that what both have created here, is not just an experience that's worthy of a stellar review, but rather, they've truly found a way to step out into the musical unknown, and I can't relay, properly how happy that makes me feel.
I have to say, though, that I'm envious of UTS, as I lack the musical know-how to present audio to our world in this way, but I do know a rare moment when I hear one, and that's exactly what we have here.
It's not often that a collection of little short stories are offered in a way that truly manage to not only present their individualized intent, but also become greater than the sum of their parts, as combined, they begin to relay a much more important mission.
I love how the album starts with ?'s mysterious, almost 'Also Sprach Zarathrustra', and as in 2001, a journey commences.. and for me, it's a deeply personal one.
MP has been living in Australia for the past decade or more, and UTS reflects a soul's homage to his environment; stark, solitary and beautiful, but equally as alert, playful and cautious.
It's the kind of music that enables you to visualize what you hear; Mr. Zawada, on the other hand allows you to hear what he interoperates - visually.
UTS collaborates with three other like-minded voyagers who share the terrain, and offer their own message as we travel, together.
It's not really relevant here to take this opportunity to 'drop names', but rest assured MP has instinctively chosen perfectly, and you'll understand 'why' this all means as you listen.
I also feel it redundant to go into each track on its own merit, as I'm sure you're hopefully surmising here that UTS is a special journey.
To wrap-up, I mentioned MP's vast back catalogue, and I reiterate here as there's a release by Mark under the guise of Plusha, titled 'Isolation' (with the beautiful voice of Kirsty Hawkshaw), which was released somewhere in the mid-nineties, and the track is probably my most cherished piece of music, but UTS is it's perfect companion.
I never imagined MP would ever release music of equal power to that of Isolation, but he has.
If you love music, and are not afraid to step into our world a little closer, then just close your eyes and let yourself go for a while, I promise you, you'll be glad you did.
