Sarah Brightman
Dreamchaser

Five years after the excellent, but somewhat incoherent "Symphony," one of the most beautiful and ethereal voices of recent years returns: Sarah Brightman is indeed ready to embark on a new, spectacular tour (which unfortunately will not touch Italy, at least for now) to promote her latest studio effort, "Dreamchaser," an album following Brightman’s tradition of presenting rigorously themed albums starting from "Dive" in 1993. So after having taken on the role of an enchanting mermaid in the aforementioned album and that of a snow fairy in "La Luna," and after transporting us to the universe of "The Thousand and One Nights" in "Harem" and guiding us through dark woods and gothic cathedrals with "Symphony," this time Sarah presents her personal odyssey in space with "Dreamchaser," among galaxies, suns, and nebulae.

Away go the gothic-rock arrangements that characterized tracks like "Running" and "Fleurs du Mal," in comes an orchestral sound that, with the help of synthesizers and computerized sounds, manages to make tangible the sensation of levitating in the void and undertaking with Brightman this fascinating journey of discovery of the universe. This journey, which includes 11 (16 with various bonus tracks) carefully selected cover songs, unfolds through enchanting orchestral moments ("Lento e Largo from Symphony No. 3, op. 36 (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs)," "A Song of India," and "B 612") and more futuristic pieces ("Angel," "One Day Like This," "Eperdu," "Closer," and the excellent bonus track "7th Heaven"). Additionally noteworthy is the fact that the album's tracks flow pleasantly one after the other without experiencing any drop in quality between them: in other words, there is no track included just to fill space, and even if after five years of waiting this seems minimal, it is pleasing to notice that, despite Sarah being someone who could sell anything with her name (read: sell ice to Eskimos or pass off dirt as chocolate), she continues to infuse every project with manic care and great passion. This positively affects her vocal interpretation, always deeply inspired and reaching extremely high quality peaks in the opening single "Angel" and the tender "Breathe Me," a piece where Brightman manages to touch the soul’s strings without overdoing it.

"Dreamchaser" is, in short, a well-made and meticulously curated album from every point of view, showing a Sarah always ready to take risks to experiment with new sounds (while not straying from those airy melodies that perfectly complement her voice). However, it must be said that it is an album far from immediate and requires multiple listens to be fully absorbed and appreciated, but when has this ever been considered a flaw?