David Arkenstone
Another Star In The Sky

"Another star in the sky" was released in 1994 and is dedicated by musician David Arkenstone to the passing of his mother (as can be inferred from the title). It is an album rich in electronic instrumentation and orchestral parts, aimed at promoting the listener's spiritual serenity, as is the case with many albums of the new age movement. Arkenstone, always very influenced by Japanese musician Kitaro in his work, offers us a record full of these atmospheres we mentioned, plus some rhythmic songs sung by his voice "filtered" through electronic instrumentation (something that doesn’t often happen in the new age movement: I mean that the composer himself sings...).

The album opens with "Pool of Radience," a piece for keyboards and percussion that alternates fast movements with slow and questioning ones, almost expectant: Arkenstone's keyboards genuinely transport us to a "spatial" world, and it feels like touching the stars of a very dark universe, occasionally illuminated.

"Far far away," which directly continues the previous song, opens with A.'s singing, saying "Lost in a dream\the star is fallen\the sky is full of winter" and it reminds us of an astronaut's feelings or a simple person lost and wandering in space... A.'s singing continues throughout the piece, accompanied by "spatial" keyboards and synthesizers...

"Light in the East" tenderly opens with the notes of a vibraphone accompanied by keyboards, then joined by an electronic horn that intones the melody; A.'s acoustic guitar then joins, accompanied by the sound of drums and some synthesized electric guitars in the background. Finally, the melody opens up completely, with the electric guitar in the foreground, and the final return to the initial theme... Very well orchestrated.

"Under the canopy" is more rhythmic and always accompanied by percussion and keyboards, which continuously play call and musical echoes. It is a piece of anticipation and transition, a kind of "passage" I would almost call it: the piece concludes with some sounds of a rainforest accompanying the final melody.

"Voices of the night" opens with broad spacey keyboards, to which A.'s singing is added again: musically, it is very similar to the second track "Far far away" without adding anything particularly new: it features good singing, accompanied by the violin, and is very pleasant to listen to.

The title track "Another star in the sky" opens with a very melodic piano at the beginning, joined by the usual keyboard, in the form of a horn, intoning the melody... The piece then increases in speed, a flute joins, and a drum set comes in to accompany everything. The keyboard then has fun varying the two or three notes of the theme of the song, and the piece continues between fast drum breaks and reprises of the melodic theme in slower tempos.

"Taken by the wind" is an almost classical piece, with verse-chorus, almost pop: it features female voices at the beginning, accompanied by a synthesized orchestration, then A.'s singing enters again, this time having something Pink Floydian and progressive, and then the piece "opens" with a genuine chorus that almost gives a nod to disco, only to return to slower tempos in the verse: Then again, chorus and fast tempos... The piece "works," it is very catchy and is also interspersed with a good portion of classical guitar...

"Canyon of the moon" is a very slow piece for keyboards, guitar, and falcon voices in the background... It remains very slow throughout its duration and features a very soft electric guitar repeating the theme, alternating with violin and vibraphone interludes that give us very sweet moments...

"Naked in the wind" begins with a fast electronic wind gust, followed by the ubiquitous "space" keyboards: this piece also remains slow throughout its duration and features drums, various percussions, falcon cries, and Native American chants...

We close with "Ride into Midnight," the ideal closing piece of the album, which opens with slow space electronic keyboards that hint at an elegiac motif only to frantically increase in rhythm, intoning a melody almost of "battle" and quickly transforming into a great musical ride that carries us through epic intergalactic battles (or historical ones, I'll leave the interpretation of the melody up to you) finally giving us a sense of moral and spiritual redemption over the tortures of "immanent" life: a brief reflective interlude, the ride resumes once more, this time concluding amid space nimbuses, among galactic nebulas light-years away from us... An exceptional piece.

"Another star in the sky" is a great album of new age and space-rock music, highly recommended for those who love this artist and this genre: additionally, I also recommend it to those who want to get closer to this genre and have the patience to approach a type of music that is perfectly opposite to what is usually listened to.