New Album by Frore and Shane Morris: Horizon

HORIZON, An Instrumental Album By Frore And Shane Morris Proves “Inspired Music Can Really Stir The Soul”

Music is infectious in communicating the deepest aspirations of the composer to the passionate listener. No other medium accessible to the senses can help ignite and elevate the moods of an audiophile as effectively as an inspired piece of music. I love music and as an avid listener of different genres of composed sound, I spend hours listening to both vocal and instrumental melodies. “Horizon,” skillfully accomplished by Frore and Shane Morris, is truly a masterpiece among the instrumental albums I have come across to date. While attempting to draft a review of the album, I pen down the voyage I made with the album lasting for 1 hour and 1 minute.

The album comprises five pieces of the instrumental opus. While I would call the entire experience of listening to the songs a kind of virtual journey, there is also some sort of progression as we move on from one opus to another in the sequence. I felt this in terms of the maturity that unfolds and takes effect in the successive pieces of compositions. In terms of the theme, mood, instruments employed, and the scheme of composition, there is a common undercurrent running through these five pieces linking them as connected itineraries in the whole voyage.

There is something unique about the whole scheme of the album: It is an experiment of a new kind in ably fusing tribal drones and universal rhythms harmoniously in a coordinated fashion to lead a celestial journey. How the makers of this album have been able to nullify the discordant elements between the conflicting instruments and synthesize the soft playing electronic sounds and melodious instruments with the contrasting energies of the percussions is the whole magic about the composition. So, the album is a foray skillfully amalgamating organic and electronic sounds. While the electronic sounds together with the Navajo flute, fujara, and Aztech death whistle make the canvass, the percussion instruments paint the picture and the story in melody finally emerges to capture the hearts.

While talking about the nature of inspiration that propelled them into the making of this album, Frore said, “Everything comes into play. The human idea of what the self is, BBC Planet Earth documentaries, industrial music, dub techno, ragas.” And Morris has something more to add in saying, “I think we are always working with an influence of cultures from around the world, history, and the music from so many different sources whether it be ambient, electronic, ethnic folk traditions, and sounds from field recordings.”

Incidentally, as the album started playing, it started drizzling outside. The ambience and mood were chill and ideal for a virtual voyage through horizons. Somehow, I felt there was some concord between the sounds of the rain and the shower of melodies as the album played. It was an absolute treat for me which I loved the most to the core of the whole thing.

As I said earlier, the same kind of mood permeates all through the five opuses and the pieces fit in well into the same genre of music in every regard. I listened to all the five pieces in one go non-stop to gain what the authors really wanted their audience to carry with them. For me together they all felt like pieces of connected travels to the same final destination.

1. The Eye of Everything

The first and the opening track among the five opuses, “The Eye of Everything” is championed by Frore and Shane Morris. The objective of the composers in writing this song is evident: they wish to build the tension by creating this stunning opener to set the phase for the rest of the pieces. The complex kind of tribal beat is skillfully deployed to transport the audience into unfrequented landscapes of divine beauty.

2. Agape

Mark Seelig joins the principal composers in “Agape” by playing the Indian Bansuri flute. The beginnings of this opus feel soft and silky giving some short stopover after the first piece. True to its inherent capabilities, Bansuri ably predominantly takes over the pilot’s seat in steering the journey forward.

3. Woven

“Woven” is a reverberating piece endowed with a celestial mood. The freeform rhythms of the percussion blend into a beat under an expansive texture, feeling like a tune aired from a subterranean station.

4. Lost in Wonder

In addition to what Frore and Shane Morris can deliver, the mesmerizing music talents of Dirk Serries, the ambient composer is evident in this piece who joins them in his dreamlike guitar to bestow a unique charm to the piece of the journey in “Lost in Wonder.”

5. Ocean of Fire

In the final piece “Ocean of Fire,” the authors of the album have proved no one can escape the infectious mood impacted by their composition. They two are joined by Byron Metcalf, a shamanic timpanist who supplements the overall effect with the frame drum in this opus. In the final piece, a kind of sprawling ambiance surges forward over the reverberating frame drum. Together with the skillful deployment of percussions, the entire journey with the opus ascends to a charismatic upsurge.

Frore and Shane Morris have accomplished this soul-stirring album to prove this: While the horizon is only accessible to the eyes, only the power of music can help reach it and even beyond. Especially, when you seek some kind of retreat or refreshment through music, your tired soul will find “Horizon” a sumptuous treat that can sufficiently move you forward for a few more days in a charged fashion. To achieve this end, you must listen to this album when you are alone with the doors shut and the heart open to capture the spirit of the composition in its entirety. Remember to switch off your phones while playing the album so that you are left all alone with yourself undisturbed and fully prepared for an immersive experience.

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