Music Review: Breath by Voiceless

Voiceless isn't too well known, so before I begin I'd like to briefly introduce you to the world of voiceless. Voiceless is one man (James R. Hopkins) who collaborates with others on occasion to create electronica, ambient and alternative all rolled into one unique-sounding experience. Based out of Orlando, voiceless has released other songs in the past, but is mainly known for his work on the score to Young Man Kang's "The Last Eve" film. Beneath is a sneak-peek that I got at the new album "Breath", which will be coming out soon.

To Sleep

The introduction of "To Sleep" begins out slow, almost reminding one of some of the 80's love ballads, not that they were bad, in fact, that makes the song pique my interest. The song is lulling, indeed, as the name implies, with the main focus being on string instruments, the violin being predominant. The beat seems to hasten slightly, with a world beat sound - perhaps almost tropic in origin. The feel with an accompanying cricket-like sound give the illusion of perhaps dreaming, if one wanted to interpret it that way. As the song reaches the end it mellows out, perhaps the dream completed or even perhaps finally falling into sleep. Whichever the case, the song blends well from beginning to end and lives up to its title fully.

Worn Thin

The perfect sounds of slow piano chords begin this song, accompanied shortly by violins in slow, almost sad-like tones. A beat interjects suddenly, incorporating what appears to be a synthetic wave-like sound. By the first minute in the song seems almost broken and choppy, before every part begins to blend together. Sad, indeed, the feel even emits how some feel when worn out. Sluggish as well as a little meloncholy. As the song progresses, the sounds speed up randomly - another feeling to go along with being worn down - confusion. The loud beat appears to be heartbeat-like as it progresses through the sound. While not overly matching to the song, there is perhaps a personal, hidden meaning behind it that voiceless leaves for us to figure out.

Our Lonely Streets 2

The beginning of this song is catchy from the get-go. Perhaps the most appealing song on the album, the beat remains steady as a voice in the background begins to sing, repeating a verse over. The singer grows louder briefly and fades in and out, almost sad in sound, however most excellent to hear. A guitar joins in as the song progresses, electrical in sound and matching perfectly with the violins and vocals. The sound is one of sadness, depicting how the singer is lonely, incorporating with the lyrics. One can almost feel as though they understand fully what the vocalist is going through. It ends almost abruptly, yet keeps a decent, almost addicting sound behind even after the last note fades.

Beneath the Waters We Swam

The artist knew what he was doing when he created the introduction to the song. The emotion felt is almost exactly how I would envision water to sound if it could sing. The song progresses into a mystical-like beat, with what appears to be a woman far beyond the background - perhaps the water herself singing. With eyes closed you can envision the coral reefs, tropical fish and gentle waves of light flowing throughout the clear waters. Extremely relaxing, the song is along the same gentle tones as "To Sleep".

ghostwhite

This song almost portrays that of a beating heart as it begins. Violins in the background, accompanied by the repeat thud-thud sound set the mood almost perfectly. Eerie-like and slightly hinted with sorrow, one can not help but feel a little saddened by this song. It carries this repeat sound throughout the song, perhaps telling a story of someone going pale. As the song ends, the heart-beat stops, yet the violins carry on just a little longer - perhaps the song is about death. All in all, a fairly decent song, however something is missing. Perhaps a vocal over it here and there would make the song more memorable.

tell me

The song crescendos at the beginning, however, the feel is one that is hard to describe. It continues to grow louder, a few interesting sounds joining in to create a faintly 'dark' sound on occasion. The song picks up a beat near the middle, the waves of sound still continuing. The feel of the waves almost feel to be like that, waves crashing against the shore. If anything, the song creates a brilliant visual. One can not help but keep listening to wonder what the next sound will be like, or what visual it will portray. Perfectly done without any vocals, it seems the somewhat unique blend of sounds replace that. While this song is definitely the longest on the cd at just over 6 minutes, it does not feel that long, nor does it drag on, like some long songs tend to do.

"Breath" appears to tell a story, at least from this perspective. Each sound is unique, intriguing and definitely worth listening to if you wished to expand your musical interests. It seems voiceless has created sounds that should appeal to every musical interest, while remaining unique to himself. It will, indeed, be a treasure to see where this musician goes with his next cd and what new sounds will entice the senses.