Like mystical music emerging from a deeply satisfying dreamstate, Chronotope Project’s Chronology, both soothes and electrifies the inward senses, enriching the life experience. This 6th release on Spotted Peccary Music by Jeffrey Ericson Allen aka Chronotope Project, illuminates his favorite musical endeavors of the past reforging them compositionally and sonically, foretelling a future that introduces new works and inspiring directions. As Chronology unfolds, Chronotope Project’s meticulous and narrative approach to song writing becomes even more apparent and vibrant in fresh light. The opening track “Unwinding the Dream” expands way beyond its original context and textures; classical flourishes ebb and flow around an anchoring sequencer ostinato: recollected fragments of lives anchored by time. As it reaches its ascendant climax, mysterious voices pull the listener back to where the piece began. “Ghost in the Machine,” unreleased from the Gnosis sessions, explores the Cartesian duality of mind and matter through the ethereal croon of the Haken Continuum (mind/ghost) and a 7/8 Euclidean rhythm (matter/machine). Originally recorded as “Awakening,” in 1985, “Arctic Spring” is as spare and majestic as the landscape the title would suggest, where a cello curves like a cool wind through glacial, expansive guitar chords and electronic subtleties. Orchestral closer “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” soars to rapturous heights, strings swept aloft by trumpets and timpani. Originally conceived as a ballet, the track follows a Muse as she dances around amassed humanity, brightening their lives with her effervescent song. A violin sings her part in the drama, pirouetting around strings and woodwinds.
“Every composer hopes that each new work advances beyond the last,” reflects Allen, and Chronology is a shining example of this. Past work from previous albums, entirely re-envisioned, validate this evolution of Chronotope Project’s musical expression, coalescing into an experience both magically exciting and fresh.
