VA - Winter Selections 06

The stark landscapes and crisp climates that characterize the winter months can clarify, if not intensify, our emotions. The music released this time of year has a tendency to be especially raw and poignant, which is certainly the case for the five exceptional cuts featured on "Winter Selections 06."

Last year, Meeting Molly released the three-track "In The Circle Of Life" EP on our imprint, including the poignant title cut. It's our great privilege to welcome back label muse Mango, whose 'Rework' centers on a more punchy and minimalistic groove, which provides more breathing room for the hauntingly beautiful vocals. Gorgeous piano melodies from the original mix and Mango's own new improvisations also dot the sentimental soundscape.

In last year's "Winter Selections" release, American talent Jake Kaiser treated us to the memorable "Sequoia." His "Kestrel" on this year's edition is an equally timeless offering, featuring a variety of effervescent melodic themes, which gently tug at the listener's heartstrings.

Back in 2014, Thomas Hayes made his official Silk Music debut with the stormy melodic progressive number, "Some Thing Never Change." Seven years later, we're pleased to welcome the Melbourne native back to our imprint; his "Red Hill" is a delightful offering, which centers on an array of reverberating piano and bell themes, as evocative vocal textures and string elements accentuate the song's wintry aura.

Belarusian artist OAI, the only label newcomer on the release, exhibits his compositional prowess on "Moonwalk," an inspired progressive offering. In the early going, a brooding bassline underpins a flurry of hypnotic arp lines, as the arrangement gently crescendoes toward the main breakdown. Suddenly, the beats drop out, and a few faint, pitched-down vocal lines begin to echo through the soundscape, as a rising arpeggio builds anticipation for the lush drop sequence to follow. The euphonious melodic themes carry the song to its conclusion.

Closing out the "Winter Selections 06" release, gifted American artist Anthony Nikita, who last contributed "Love The Way" to our stable (back in 2018), serves up the melodic prog stormer, "Closer." The song jets out of the gate with a formidable, peak-hour groove, punctuated by the song's main vocal motif: an intoxicating hook, which ends with a reference to the song's title. A trance-influenced chord progression ultimately culminates in an anthemic sequence, in which the soaring chords and recurring vocal motif join forces to create an awe-inspiring soundscape. The drop to follow is simply rapturous.

1. Meeting Molly - In the Circle of Life (Mango Rework) 6:35
2. Jake Kaiser - Kestrel (Original Mix) 3:21
3. Thomas Hayes - Red Hill (Original Mix) 6:11
4. OAI - Moonwalk (Original Mix) 3:52
5. Anthony Nikita - Closer (Original Mix) 6:07
6. Jake Kaiser - Kestrel (Extended Mix) 5:58
7. OAI - Moonwalk (Extended Mix) 5:51