Short Reviews [4th Eden - 2022 - "Delta"]

Towards the end of last year keyboard player Martin released two albums, ‘Delta’ and ‘Epsilon’, and as would be suggested by the linking of the names and artwork they are very much two sides of the same coin. As with his 2021 album, ‘Metamophosis’, he is now in the musical area most commonly inhabited by the likes of Vangelis and Jean Michel Jarre as he finds his own space and relaxes into his influences to create music which is restful, relaxing and inviting. This album came out in October 2022 and of the two is the more direct and slightly upbeat, creating an atmosphere where one can imagine the music moving further into rock (it never does). It is heavily layered, with plenty of held-down chords which allows the listener to relax and investigate what is taking place, with nice clear single note synths over the top allowing us to move in different directions. I am never a huge fan of programmed drums, and hold firmly to the belief that a sweaty human is always better, but even I admit that in this context they work well and do not seem out of place. One can imagine some of these pieces being taken as a starting point by the likes of Richard Wileman as they are quite visual, with “Doppler Gang” bringing in not only thoughts of a train but Martin’s earlier influences of classic Kraftwerk as this is packed full of them which makes it quite different to what else is around. All of Martin’s albums are available to hear on Bandcamp, and for anyone interested in electronic music then this is certainly worth hearing.