There is a baseball expression (at least here in Minnesota)
when a player hits a home run, it's
"Touch 'em all!" This, of course, refers to the player
"touching" all the bases as he makes his journey to home plate. On
her album The Light Within, Juliet
Lyons "touches 'em all" in two significant ways. One is that this
album is most assuredly a home run in the genre of new age vocal music, and two, she also "touches
'em all" when it comes to approaching this genre in a multi-phasic musical
approach. The ten tracks explore a variety of styles, influences, and
classifications. The overarching message of these songs is best described by the
album's subtitle, "Songs for Yoga, Healing, & Inner Peace." The
unifying aspect of the album as it crisscrosses musical styles is Lyons'
beautiful, expressive, and soulful voice, which makes this recording such a joy
to hear time and time again (I think I have played it at least ten times so
far, and each time I hear something new).
In the first paragraph I referred to The Light Within as being in the new age vocal genre, but there is
a smattering of chant as well. However, most of the lyrics are sung in English,
so don't be put off by this trace element if you normally do not like
kirtan/Sanskrit chanting. Also, while some chant/Indian musical influences are
present as represented by the presence of certain instruments, e.g. santoor,
sitar, and tabla, there is more of a new age sound to the music. Guitars,
keyboards, cello, bass, piano, and flute all lend a more contemporary/Western
aspect to instrumentation.
Joining Lyons on the album are some prominent guests,
including Ron Korb (flute), Ricky Kej (keyboards and programming) and David
Vito Gregoli (programming, sitar, bass, guitars). This is not to discount the
other seven guests, all of whom perform their roles admirably. Most of the guest
artists only appear on one track each, with the exception of guitarist Allen
DeSomer who appears on six songs. Production and mixing credits are spread
among the artist, Shahead Mostafafar, Todd Boston, Kej, Vanil Vegas, CK Barlow,
Scott Horton, and Gregoli. Mastering by Reuben Cohen at Lurssen Mastering is
textbook. Lyons' voice sounds heavenly throughout the album, and each of the
instrumentalists' contributions are treated equally as strong.
While the album's subtitle may convey to you that this is a
laid back recording, some of the songs do kick it up a notch, so those would be
better suited to "active" yoga, at least to my ears. The opening
track, "Lokah Samastah," is uptempo, even celebratory, and also comes
the closest to being more chant than new age, as it mixes mantras with English
lyrics. Santoor and tabla lend a decidedly Indian feel to the track while its
upbeat "pop" sensibilities swing it into Western music territory. The
intermixing is seamless and delightful. Next up, "Om Shanti" dials
the pace back to midtempo, but again, there is a discernible blending of
Eastern and Western influences. The beats here are not performed by hand
percussion but instead are programmed, so one could also identify this as a
chill-fusion tune.
There are also some mellow selections on the album. "Eternal
Now" has a slow tempo rhythm and Lyons' voice swirls and flits above
Korb's flute and DeSomer's guitar. "Dawning Equilibrium," an
instrumental, crosses into over spacier new age stylings with layers of
keyboards and a plaintive piano in the lead. What might surprise you (as it did
me) was the occasional foray into more overt chill-out ("Calm"
features a nice slow-tempo beat and Lyons' sings the lyrics with sensual
breathiness, and "Heal You" sparkles with a subtle, bouncy
effervescence and here Lyons' voice is captivating and enchanting).
The Light Within is available at Amazon, CDBaby, iTunes, and Spotify
