Artist: Kenneth Bager
Album: Sunset Sessions
Label: Music for Dreams
Release date: 27th November
Thousands are swept along in tear-jerking moments during Ibiza´s summer sunsets. If you thought that they couldn´t get any better, you won´t have seen the sunsets of the winter months. Whether you´re lucky enough to still be on the island to enjoy these sun show-downs, or whether you´re looking to be taken to the Balearics through the medium of music, Kenneth Bager has the album release for your ears.
His third edition of the Sunset Sessions series is set for release on his much lauded label imprint, Music for Dreams, 22 years after his first compilation stole our imaginations. The first of the 30 tracks, Lungomare by Lost For Youth, immediately steals our imaginations as it begins with spoken word in Italian asking, “what have I done to deserve this? The voice continues void of emotion throughout the four minute track which harmoniously accompanies the delicate warmth of the track´s soft ambience. Interestingly the lyrics were penned during a folding joint session, where one draws the head and the paper is folded for the other to draw the body and so on. Its hypnotic character, embellished by the odd recording of children playing by the seaside, retains an air of mystery, unless of course you speak Italian or use Google translate to learn that its poetic flow becomes centred around a longing theme of not having truly explored the ocean.
The compilation rolls into the open, embodying dreamy sensibilities with the echoes of sporadic keyboard brushes, breezy synths, lush guitar glimmers, melancholic hooks and funk elements. Visti & Meyland's Hand in Hand stands out with a summery vintage feel that wouldn't feel out of place on record players in decades past. The opening vocal is accompanied by hand played analogue arpeggios, slothful synths and plucked bass guitar strings, before coming to a close with a piano solo. A blithesome collaboration with Bager himself and Balearic legend DJ Pippi features before DJ Pippi takes his rightful place once more with Dangerous, a huge 2015 anthem featuring sensual vocals by JL.
Upbeat elements can be heard on the likes of Emil Germ's Tease and Burn (Lucci Capri remix) and again in the playful house track titled Looking Back by Andreas Fox & Oscar which exudes a smooth and deep ‘80s groove. Impossible Island is the title of the last track by Gaussian Curve. The negative adjective used to describe the ocean encircled troubled noun triggers a curiosity to listen to a soundscape that could be used in a track on an album that represents the beauty of the Balearics. While the guitar work is haunting, the soft pads and light piano chords work with it to create a warmth and dreamlike journey that might lead to you taking a U-turn back to the beginning.
While aficionados of the Balearic sound and chill-out realm will relish in this curation, it's for anyone looking for a dreamy session of body relaxation and mind exploration.
Tracklist:
1. Lust For Youth - Lungomare
2. The Swan And The Lake - Soft Brainfreeze
3. Eleventeen Eston - Indian blue
4. Jacob Gurevitsch - Mapa De Soledad ( Len Leise Remix)
5. Ruf Dug feat Nev Cotte e - Dominica
6. Danseorkestret - Alt Er Dit ( KBE EDIT)
7. A Vision Of Panorama - Patches of Light ( Jex Opolis)
8. Mathieu Boogaerts - Avant Que Je M'ennuie
9. Bongo Ent. - Foto Feita Avi A
10. Visti & Meyland - Hand In Hand
11. Troels Hammer - Mother Space
12. Per Walter & Danmarks Radios Underholdningsorkester - Theme From "Fiskerne"
13. Kobayashi Yamato - Okinawa Zanpamisaki Royal Hotel - Welcome Video
14. Daniel Savio, Reino Nordin, Dj Herkules - Wee Hours
15. Dj Pippi & Kenneth Bager - Never Stop Dreaming
16. Dalholt & Langkilde - Afrique
17. Jose Manuel feat. Babacar Dieng - Bilimbosa
18. Fred Ventura & Fred R. - A Life in Colors ( American Extended Mix)
19. Horsebeach – June .
20. Dj Pippi & JL – Dangerous
21. Emil Germ - Tease & Burn ( Lucci Capri Remix)
22. Bell Towers - Love Chain Reaction ( PSB tribute)
23. Andreas Fox & Oscar - Looking Back
24. HSB - Welcome to The Beach
25. Bonnie & Klein - Magnolia
26. Mick Rocah - Meantime
27. Pepe California - MFMFD
28. Nick Mackrory & Harry Collier - Elled It (Colona Radio Edit)
29. Schulz, Hammer & Bager feat Rodrigo Sha - Some Di Someday
30. Gaussian Curve - Impossible Island
WORDS | Aimee Lawrence
