Music is a potent mood regulator. Simply by listening, our frame of mind changes. It is true for all genres, but especially New Age music. Keith Richie’s new single Epica shows just how powerful music can be. For me, a lazy afternoon suddenly turned epic. Richie opens a portal to another dimension, and all sense of normality vanishes. A larger-than-life battle, as magical as the above cover artwork, is raging – and there is nothing left to do but fight. Epica is the incredibly promising first single from Keith Richie’s upcoming album!
Keith Richie is a Texas-based composer living in a small town called Mesquite. His music ranges from Berlin-school to film score, ambient, and chill-out. His YouTube persona is the Maestoso, a fitting Italian term indicating parts of musical scores meant to sound large, triumphant, heroic, and victorious, such as the Olympic Fanfare and Theme by one of his idols, John Williams. He recently composed music for the short film Dead Love: A Fever Dream of Terror.
About his most recent album, we wrote that: “Ambient Highways is very close to a perfect release. It is the kind of album ambient artists set out to make but rarely manage to. The reason? It is hard to compose gentle and warm melodies that also have larger-than-life atmospheres. Usually, this makes the album sound detached, cold and sharp. Tangerine Dream fans don’t mind, of course, but it is way too 1980s for many people today. Ambient Highways is hot, colorful, and has a touch of class.” Read our full review here.
Epica
Epica is a layer-upon-layer kind of melody. From the quiet, whispery opening rises a new world order. It is worldbuilding on a grand scale. Mimi Page’s vocal sounds both human and alien, comforting and instructive, all at the same time.
Suddenly incredibly sharp synth leads cut in, then war drums are heard. A battle is raging somewhere close; It is awe-inspiring and massive. It could have been the soundtrack to a Hollywood blockbuster movie. As usual, Richie’s production is spotless. It contains cutting-edge synths, interesting arrangements, and surprising twists.
“Music is the shorthand of emotion,” Leo Tolstoy said. Listening to Keith Richie’s Epica, that quote seems especially true. There is nothing rational about the feelings this inspired music creates, yet it feels as natural as thirst or hunger.
As we experienced while listening to Ambient Highways, Richie is a gifted storyteller. The Epica single is like an incredibly promising first chapter, preparing the listener for everything that awaits later on the album. If it is anything like this, the album will be heroic, grand, and monumental!
While you are at it, do check out Ambient Highways too. Highly recommended!