Dreams Beyond Terra is the debut album from electronica recording artist ELEON who co-produced this project with guitarist and ambient musician David Helpling. Comprised of twelve engrossing compositions, Dreams Beyond Terra is a sonically epic and soulfully elevating listening excursion into euphoric ‘chill’ and downtempo-trance. Likewise, some cuts feature Helpling on electric guitar, which he ethereally weaves into these lushly majestic soundscapes.
Sounding off this fantastical journey is “Species Communicating”, a piece that immediately conveys a rapturous sense of travel by flight with its pronounced bassline and steady trance-dance rhythm. Seemingly unbounded by any specific locality, it’s as if one is viewing oceans and landscapes while soaring high above the earth. Moving next into “Terra Sanctuary”, breathy vocal intonations add another element of intrigue to what could be described as a ‘chill-trance’ anthem. Tracks like “Carbon Beings” and “Bionic Travelers” employ the kinds of digital sequencing and heavy downtempo beats that often characterize ‘psybient’ music, except that the overall mood here tends to the more euphoric and extrospective as opposed to the psychedelic and introspective. My favorite composition herein is the mesmerizingly beautiful “Earth to Heavenly Places”, with its title perfectly summarizing the overall feel of the album. Sensually trippy and fantasy-like, softly-uttered female vocals lightly scattered among the piece lends it an extra dimension of mystifying intrigue. “Will Your Heart Dance with Mine” is the most subdued and light-bodied track on the album, with its subtle rhythm and ethereal synth-pads conveying a floating airiness that pleasantly recalls some material from Bryan Carrigan’s Inspired album.
Integrating trance, downtempo and ambient musical concepts for an end-result that will appeal to a wide-range of electronic music lovers, Dreams Beyond Terra easily makes the short-list for this year’s finest electronica albums!
