S Currie: “Planet 1” is rhythmic and evocative
S Currie is an electronic artist based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Influenced by the likes of Jean Michel Jarre, he released his instrumental project “Planets 1”, which garnered major brand placements, including campaigns by Gillette and Coca Cola. The modern serious composer has a daunting challenge today. How does his work get heard in a world of pop, hip-hop, and dance music? S Currie’s offerings go straight to the heart, not just the feet and hips. His creations hearken from a time when people listened to the tones and timbres that combine to create atmospheres and moods.
The more one puts S Currie’s music through its paces, the more one marvels at how a single individual has so many interesting gems to share. “Planets 1” is rich with the varying aural atmospheres that grace his compositions yet comes with lean instrumentation and thick rhythms. It’s time for a generation of electronic music lovers to discover the joy of heart-expanding music that inspires and intrigues.
In “Planets 1”, S Currie has stepped back a bit from the abundant processing of his sound that we hear on many recent musical forays from his contemporaries. His synthesizer playing is more personal and unfiltered. Even when he adds his multiple layers of sounds, the music never sounds clinical or overdone.
The opening track, “Synthesizer Dawn” is rhythmic and evocative, but also manages to stay intimate and personal at the same time. It has a hard banging drum sequence and a building synth backdrop on which S Currie weaves his lead melodies. The track maintains a sustained momentum which is hard to ignore.
“Synthesizer Dawn” is split into 4 more versions on the project. Each having its own particular sonic twist. These go from the percussively dominated “Synthesizer Dawn PT2” and “Synthesizer Dawn PT3”, to the poignant and lusciously layered “Synthesizer Dawn PT4”, onto the final upbeat extract, “Synthesizer Dawn PT5”.
On these recordings, S Currie mostly resists the temptation to give into modern electronica sounds. What we get instead are deep electronic sequences around which waves of retro, analogue-like synths, wash across each arrangement, which is punctuated with bright melodies and surefooted rhythms that capture the imagination.
“Synthesizer Dawn” breathes the joy of music – the writing and the performing of it, as well as the listening to it. Along with “PT4”, it is without a doubt the best section from the project. Delivering a powerhouse performance, alternately hushed and intimate and explosively powerful, this sparkling track is like a portal that opens up new avenues and new desires to listen to more music similar to it.
This is where S Currie’s music leaves the studio and climbs up to meet the outside world. In a time when musical genres cross-pollinate more than ever before, S Currie is making music that challenges us to discard our preconceptions about modern instrumental electronic music, as he combines atmosphere, melody and a sense of adventure to provide an emotional response from listeners.
