CD Review of Heavens by Paul Adams

Album: Heavens

Artist: Paul Adams

Total Time: 60:62

Heavens is a wonderful collection of flute meditative songs composed by Paul Adams, who has delivered such a nice presentation.

Heavens opens slowly like a journey towards something that opens when one sits in meditations and tries to focus all one’s energy on it. The children ending the track, “Dreamtime”, feels like somebody who has found his childhood where one is able to enjoy a great discovery by being happy. A lovely track to start with.

“In a Zen Garden”, as one can make from the name itself, is a meditative mood of flute making one float on the caressing gusts of wind. The notes of this track are carefully selected to make it sound meditative and therapeutic. The accompanying or overlapping flute is once again delivered very masterfully. The rattling and other percussion instruments are used in a very susceptible manner.

“Into the Deep Blue” is like a call made by the same meditative flute that led the listener to a very peaceful garden. The flute becomes a bit chirpy in this track and begins to open the heart to the vastness of the blue, which is reflected equally by the sky and the sea. It is able to step forward into dance mode with careful and selective moves. The accompanying flute in the background provides a very delicate touch of openness. At the end of the track, the mood is like sitting and marveling at the vastness of the deep blue.

“Whippoorwill” starts with a more treble form of flute bring newness to the mood of the listener. The sound scheme is backed with the sounds of beetles and nocturnal insects beautifully portraying somebody sitting in a meditative posture and enjoying the nearness on whom the listener is meditating. Indeed, a very rare peace to tune to while sitting alone and having no other sound to disturb.

The mood of a listener is meditative. It begins to move into “The Ancients” with a very rare piece of music. A sound that intersperses between the music reminds of the Senegal Coucal that makes a similar sound when one roams around in a woodlet. Once again, a very meditative piece giving peace to the listener.

“Cloud Floating” is the smallest track of the album. A listener can imagine sitting on a cloud and moving in the sky with some distant music landing on the eardrums and bringing the messages from far-distance lands. A wonderful piece if one wants to enjoy the stillness of time sitting quietly and avoiding any other sound.

The next track, “Grace Befalls the Evening” starts with sounds that directly give the listener an indication of sundown and approaching of the night. The insects have grown louder but somebody is waiting for the arrival of a coveted blessing. The heart’s longings are looking for that touch of grace that stills every craving sprouting in the field inside. A very beautiful piece once again and rendered with great care of the mood already built in the preceding tracks.

Receiving the grace and blessing, the heart of the listener is full of joy and wants to come of the cocoon that the sadness binds one into. “Sadness Will not Bind Me” is like a revolutionary reverie of the heart declaring that it refuses to be bound by the sadness that limits one’s creative energy and coils one into its suffocating grasp. It feels like a passive refusal to be buckled down.

The title track “Heavens” opens with chimes giving the hope of something that is joyous and demands celebration. A very moody and cute opening by the flute gives a direct impression of the heart that is about to open for something that lurked far away yet always close in the longing. The mood of the flute floats in joyous mode. I liked the scale of flute that Paul picked for this track.

The last track “The Sky of Hope” starts beautifully. It gives a perfect ending to such a soulful album. The mood of the track is meditatively prayerful and hopeful of a rendezvous that the soul of the listener has always pined for. It is passive in its tone and is able to bring out the desired emotions.

Overall, I would rate “Heavens” pretty high. A similar artistry was displayed by Ann Licater in her album “Doorway to a Dream“, where she presented all the track beautifully.  Thanks to Paul for such a beautiful rendering of all the songs and sharing it with me. Wishing him the best of luck and more soulful creations like “Heavens”.