Intellessence: “Dynamo” – futuristic textures and retro tones!
432 Hz is said to be the natural frequency of the universe, to have cosmic healing powers and to attract masses of audience to our music. Just by tuning our music less than a semitone below our standard A=440Hz we are promised direct access to the universe’s hidden treasures. There are many articles presenting evidence in favor of 432 Hz. Mozart, Verdi, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Prince were said to have tuned to 432 Hz. Whatever the pros and cons, I personally believe that musicians should be able to tune to any base frequency they like, as standards should not hold anyone back. It’s not often we bump into 432 Hz musicians to make comparisons, but I have just bumped into Intellessence, a solo recording artist, producer and formally trained audio engineer. He is known to be a pioneer in a melodic, hypnotic groove recorded at A = 432 Hz, and has recently released his 9 track album “Dynamo”.
This album takes the blissful imagery in life and immortalizes them into music. Sure, you’ve got problems, bills, work, and drama in your life – we all do – but when this album plays, those things go away for a little while, even if it’s just a split second. When this plays, you’re on a beach with friends soaking up sun; you’re discovering the little things in life that make it worth living.
Luscious tones, sweet melodies, rich harmonies grooving organic rhythms and smooth electronics all sweep you up onto cloud nine and whisk you away to another dimension. It’s a warping time travel between futuristic textures and retro tones.
It is a smooth, progressive sound reminiscent of early psychedelic rock like Pink Floyd and the acid pop years of The Beatles, mixed with co-opted jams from the sprawling soundscapes of Orchestral Maneuvers in The Dark, the razor sharp pop choruses of The Pet Shop Boys and the undeniable arranging genius of Thomas Dolby.
Intellessence music, is authentic and really good – refreshing, smart and beautiful. Great music that can make you disappear from the real world, for better, for worse. If there’s one thing this artist doesn’t suffer from, it’s a lack of ambition.
“Dynamo” shows that Intellessence puts much more weight into his music than even his most scrupulous listeners do, often taking it to outlandish levels of complex excellence, as can be heard on the musically busy “Groovy Tune” and “Hey Now”.
But then he can also turn out a straightforward melody and beat like he does on “Simple Song” with its lavish strings and propulsive rhythm. The epic opening track “A Summer’s Dream”, quickly indicates that the artist’s intentions on this album, are nothing short of messianic. From the jangling, strumming guitars, to the sprawling keyboards, the sound soon engulfs you.
Those intentions are confirmed on “Think About Tomorrow”, as the grandiose musical arrangement wraps itself around the warm melodic vocals in a track that instantly brought back memories of some of Mike Oldfield’s work. However little did I know that the best was still to come.
A great sense of momentum builds up over the course of the back-to-back tracks “Alive”, “So High” and “Rain”. A little more focused, a little more refined, a little more catchy, these three tracks are for me, the album’s accessible centerpieces. No matter what your genre pick is, these songs are hard to dislike.
“Rain” is soaring, hypnotic, and beautifully charming song that blends sweeping auto-tuned vocals with elevated jangle-pop pathos; and places crystalline, thumping basslines over waves of gentle, atmospheric strings.
The song is driven by a carefully relentless rhythm, like the never-ending lope of a determined stallion, and delivered in irresistible streams of enchanting, focused melody. Subtly stunning, gorgeous and completely captivating; this is an album that I could live with for quite a while!
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