Jason van Wyk - Opacity

 
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It's always easy to make comparisons in music, but they come in handy when you find something that mirrors musical styles that are hard to come-by, or moreover, hard to do well.

Jason van Wyk's new album on Home Normal bears a striking resemblance to some of our most recent innovators in the modern-classical space. Combining piano, strings, and soft pads that stretch to a limitless horizon, Opacity reminds me of soundtracks that would come often from the likes of Jon Hopkins, with tracks such as Glow and Beneath, combining poignant backgrounds with very simple piano or string melodies as heard in the likes of Monsters OST

Later on in the album, Jason brings more electronics to the fray, and suddenly Nils Frahm-style synthesizers bounce around more gentle piano pieces in For Now, Weightless and the more epic album closer, Eyes Shut. 

The only reason I call out these comparisons, is to urge you to listen. I can either do that, or continue with superlatives detailing how great this is... 

Available on Bandcamp.