Touch & Sound

 


Juan Sánchez always experiments, calling himself a classical musician falling in love with Ambient/New Age electronic music. Touch & Sound is his third indie album, with an astonishing and nourishing 17 tracks. This time he is exploring the combination of strings and ethereal female voices, while continuing his passion for the sound of the acoustic piano in different settings. There is the most subtle electronica present in many places, but the sound is stories told on a solo piano without lyrics, created to allow a connection with the music on an emotional level. 

Listeners hear generous epic soundscapes exploring notions of time, childhood, the moon, the rain, piano with a duduk, a lullaby, the discipline of calm, international human rights, a candle in the window, the afterlife, under the ocean, living by the sea, the air, daybreak, water mixed with sky, an unclad piano, and dreams.


The first track, "Sands of Time" (6:32), is a composition about the steady unstoppable advancement of time, featuring the timeless voice of soprano Morgane Matteuzzi. Juan uses very interesting keyboard phrasing, hurrying and then slowing to a pause. The vocalist and synthesizers blend, water flows, heights are reached, the sands of time are running out. The term “The Sands of Time” comes from the sand used in hourglasses, an ancient way of measuring time, scattered with unanswered questions, questions that imply – unthinkably to the young romantic – that love and goodness may be illusory.

The title of the next track is "Piga Al Cel" (7:07), and is a personal favorite in this collection of beautiful and emotional piano personal favorites. The song name is a Catalan language expression that in English means “freckle in the sky.” As a listener, what I like is the special razor’s edge sound, both violinist Mirela Nita and the mechanical aspects of the piano blend into the construction; we can hear the felt hammers gently move against the strings, it is a natural force that cannot be resisted.

The mood starts unsteadily and eerily on the title track,  "Touch & Sound" (4:21), when electronica gently touches the piano and reaches us in our dreams, crossing over from reality to create an amazing atmosphere anchored in the depths of the sound of desires and more importantly cravings, the melody becomes human enough to weep and despair, to talk and to aspire.

Touch & Sound is a piano-driven album with increased instrumentation like ethereal female voices, subtle synthesizer backgrounds and string arrangements, proving that sound can expand consciousness. With the syncing of these two diverse worlds comes the ultimate journey to transcend current time, space and reality, with the songs acting as mood shifters so any atmosphere can be created. 

The music of Juan Sánchez is a reflective musical journey through moments of hope as well as despair, featuring arpeggios that seemingly float in the air. He does not want people to only listen to his music, he wants them to feel it and connect with it. Touch & Sound achieves that connection with grace and serenity. This is a timeless album which brings an inspirational feeling of peaceful insight.

The album is available from Juan Sanchez Music:

https://juansanchezmusic.info/listen-download-my-music

https://juansanchezmusic.info/

https://open.spotify.com/artist/7hWXE61toZRP69BB1bQgDe

Related article "Believing in your own magic"

#JuanSanchez #newage #ambientmusic #JuanSanchezMusic #instrumental #piano 

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