Beyond Words
Reviewed By Janet Mawdesley December 2, 2016
Artist – Dan Chadburn
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http:/www.DanChadburn.com
As with all of Chadburn’s albums there is something so gentle and relaxing about them they simply wash over you, bringing with the music a wonderful sense of peace and tranquillity. Beyond Words is no exception.
Based on the many aspects of life lived by us all, the moments of joy, happiness, sadness and sorrow, music is often the one thing that can reach out and help begin the healing, add that special memory to a day filled with joy; music can transcend everything by capturing that moment in time that cannot, and never will be, experienced in the same manner again.
Each of the tracks that make up Beyond Words creates something special which brings back memories; Awakening explores that moment when something triggers a moment spent, a friend met, an event that was so very special and when followed by Joyful Morning you can simply subconsciously relax and enjoy the beginning of a new day; enjoy the pure joy in the moment of a blank canvas still to be drawn upon.
Tears of Angels was composed in response to the shooting at the Pulse Night Club in Orlando on 12 June, 2016, in memory of all those who lost their lives or were injured on this terrible night.
Lazy Sky is a piece that everyone can relate too; how many times have you simply sat at the end of busy day and simply looked at the sky; the patterns drawn, the colours painted by a celestial hand, the slowly changing light as day settles into night and felt that sublime peacefulness descending over you. Kal-boy is in homage to Chadburn’s beloved 20 year old cat Kal when he ‘passed over the rainbow bridge’. Each of the fourteen tracks on the album has a special significance in his life with the emotion felt and experienced reaching out to the listener.
As a solo album this one genuinely surpasses everything Dan Chadburn has composed prior in its fluidity, as he has woven a kind of alchemy into the notes, managing to be able to reach deep inside the listener while they are almost unaware, to heal, relax and sooth the soul.
This beautiful peacefulness throughout the entire album is not something which occurs all that often with this new age, solo piano style of music, but it certainly does this time. Perhaps Chadburn, has dipped deeper than ever before into his personal journey and come up with something that is so very special it touches all who listen, as it has the timbre of a rich life well lived, understood and accepted.
All the proceeds from the sale of the track Tears of Angels will benefit the OneOrlando Fund (oneorlando.org) which is a group committed to ensuring 100% of all the money raised goes to the victims’ families and survivors of the Pulse Night Club attack.