Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: romantic

  • Iridescent

    Iridescent

    After listening to the singular tracks that makeup Louis Anthony de Lisle’s latest work, Iridescent over the past months, it is an absolute pleasure to be able to relax into the beautiful, gentle and romantic mood woven simply for pleasure.

    Commencing with the lovely Iridescent written for friend Nancy Rumbal’s birthday, on which she plays oboe, the delicate blend of piano, oboe, with the subtle addition of a bracket of jazz, makes a lovely jazz fusion blend with which to commence a special, romantic moment in time.

    Our Golden Hour is a softly floating song which while structured encourages a walk back down memory lane to meeting a first love, the golden hour spent in sublime bliss; a new beginning, a poignant time always to be treasured.

    Paying tribute to those which were lost is the slightly pensive, deeply emotional The Loves We Lost (2020 -2022) for those whose lives changed forever during the COVID pandemic.

    Gentle, divinely relaxing and sensuous Some Kind of Lullaby is absolute romance, delivered with emotion: a man, his piano, the lights low, the woman he loves being worshiped. A song with which to fall in love.

    Dusk; a moody, delightfully elegant song reminiscent of the bewitching time between now and then, when light is gently softening, days colours are slowly blending into night, a time of dreaming, allowing the emotions to drift as you a walk arm in arm with the one you love, towards a future still unknown.

    Nancy Rumbal gently ushers in Aurora, before a soft joining of strings brings with it a touch of almost but not quite ’Hollywood” romance in a delightful bend of harmonies, before deLise arrives with a lovely cool jazz segment, in a song full of softy teasing moments with which to celebrate one of nature’s more awe inspiring moments:  Aurora or Dawn arising.

    That First Morning is a song of wonderment, of new beginnings, of hope for the future, with the special person in your life; which leads eloquently into the divinely beautiful Summer’s Glow wafted into being with cello and oboe, partnered with subtle piano, flute and guitar discovered in the blend which pleases the senses.  

    Drawing a delightfully sensual, relaxing and romantic work to a close is The Blue Hour, singular, mellow, a tribute to the darker, mystical shades of blue just before the sun rises and sets; a blue hour, a moment in time with which to reflect, the shades of a darker blue bathing the earth in delicate soft light.

    When Louis Anthony deLise takes time out from his busy life to sit and compose on a personal level, the music is guaranteed to be something very special. Iridescence is in all its many layers of emotion, pure bliss for forty short but delightful moments in time.

  • Walk In Beauty, Like the Night

    Walk In Beauty, Like the Night

    On his revisiting the wonderfully enigmatic world of romantic New Age music Michael Whalen has created a marvellously romantic song as the title track for his new album Walk in Beauty Like The Night that reminds one of taking a blank canvas and painting upon it in many and varied hues, simply to discover what will emerge.

    With the early release single Walk in Beauty Like The Night, he teases the imagination with many layers of delicate sound to create a whole; an image of faces, of people, of wondrous things and magical moments in life are captured.

    A rare smile that lights up the day, a joyful moment when nature reveals its beauty, a grin from a passing stranger that says, Hi, hello; the soft, intriguing mystery of fluffy white clouds, sun kissed skies and moody shadows as the night draws in, are all hidden within each of the layers which gently unfold into a soft, soothing and lovely moment of perfection.

    The complete album was released on 21 July and if this track, out now, is anything to go by, it is going to be a collection that will be enjoyed over and over again.

  • Nick

    Nick

    Nick Caraway came to fame as the narrator of what is considered as a literary masterpiece written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby. Michael Farris Smith has taken this fictional character one step further, bringing him out of the shadows of a work of passion and disillusionment, to made him a fully fledge character, probably reminiscent of many who returned from the horrors of the trenches in the First World War, changed men, hardened by the horrors of war, trying hopelessly to fit into a world also eternally changed.

     Young, naive and desperately struggling to survive in the trenches of France, Nick gets sent on furlough to Paris where he meet Elle, a French Parisienne struggling to survive in a world of tragedy. He falls in love, his first love, marvelling that so much wonderment can be found inside a tragedy. They spend their halcyon days in love and together.

    Returning to America Nick finds himself, lost, depressed and foundering in the debauchery of New Orleans, a place that is full of violence, tragedy and despair. Once again a chance meeting has him confronting bitter memories of war, Paris, his family and the absolute degradation of the people surrounding him; involved in the love hate tragedy of the relationship of Judah and brothel owner Colette: stuck, unable to move on.

    A pivotal moment sees him catching a train to Chicago, firmly shutting the door on the dissonance that was New Orleans, seeking his family, trying to put his life back together again. It was the day after Christmas.

    In the small hours of the morning when night has not given away to the light of a new day Nick began to write; to write what Judah had asked him to write, page after page. He wrote of Paris, he wrote about Judah and Collette, about life, about everything other than War.

    Who was Nick Carraway before he became the voice of F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1928!

    Deep, tragic and gripping Nick is the story of many who went to war to return changed men. Michael Farris Smith has captured the element of hopelessness, bordering on eternal despair that many would have experienced. Given a change to change, to leave the past behind, Nick chooses hope but in doing so becomes involved with Jay Gatsby, a man damaged beyond repair, hopelessly in love with Daisy: the wife of another man and the hedonistic days of the Roaring Twenties.

    Surprisingly charismatic Nick is a portrait of man carved in emotion that is unconventional, seductive, almost poetic in its narrative and beautifully crafted.

  • A Man of Genius

    A Man of Genius

    This historical, romantic novel, is set in Regency England and Venice, during 1816 with the author capturing the period accurately, giving us the sights, sounds and smells of London and Venice. The romance is of the blackest kind, with the main character Ann the victim.

     Although she is an author of Gothic murder mysteries, and a successful, independent, young woman, her upbringing was disastrous, leaving her with very little self-esteem. She believes she is quite worthless, as her mother often reminded her, and accepts abuse as her lot in life.

     Ann is invited to a dinner party, and meets and falls in love with an Irish genius and writer, Robert James, who dared to criticise……everything! “The legal robbery of the Government is not its taxation, but its opinions”, was one of his many quotes.

      After living together for a short time, Robert becomes terribly bored, suggesting they moved to Venice. Although he had little income he refused to be worried by petty issues such as finance.

     Descriptions of Venice, the architecture, the politics and the customs are beautifully relayed, providing a welcome backdrop for the disastrous turns that Ann’s relationship is taking. She manages to find a job, tutoring a young woman in English but their money is rapidly being spent.

     Eventually tragedy strikes and a man who is a stranger to Ann rescues her, taking her from Venice back to France by many a devious route as she has no papers. There she discovers her mother dying but as she is ill herself, finds she cannot understand what it is her mother means when she talks about her husband: Ann’s father.

     After several days of recuperation, Ann returns to her mother’s rooms to find she has died and there is indeed a puzzle to work out, but only the maid can help.

     At this point, the story becomes gripping and urgent, bubbling with mystery and questions. While we realise that Ann’s life has been projected from feelings of unworthiness from her mother, there are more shocking revelations in a letter and trinket box passed on to Ann.

     The authenticity in the settings, language, behaviour and politics of the time make a marvellous backdrop to a language rich story.

  • Adore

    Adore

    In ‘Adore’ Joseph Sullinger has created a unique blend of classical and romantic guitar, which allows each of the slightly ethereal pieces to flow gently into the soul, in a style that is as timeless and pleasurable as the setting sun in the evening, the rhythmic ebb and flow of the ocean, the all-pervasive knowledge that music is the very essence of life.

    ‘Mi Amor ‘is created from enticing, tempting and intriguing notes floating gently out of the ether to woo you into settling gently down; allowing the inner self to relax, transport to another time and place; a place of subtle harmonies and pleasure; timeless, endless, beauty.

    Once you have entered the realms of Joseph Sullinger and his guitar you are moved into another time and space, with the light and delicate rhythms of the guitar, entwined with the gentle strains of the violin, creating the deeply relaxing composition ‘In The Evening’, which offers the peace to be found in the settling of the day; the transcendental nature of the evening light as it washes over the lands.

    An upbeat tempo shakes you out of the tranquillity with ‘Adore’, but not so far that you lose the mellow feelings so far discovered.

    Melting into the heart is ‘Aurora’, a delicate piece that changes to a more up-tempo rhythm but slides into the slower pace of a heart, a soul, a spirit at rest.

    ‘Solitude’ is simply that; sitting at rest slowly playing the guitar, gently, subtly but with the sense of being at one with the music; the solitude that comes from being in the moment; that moment which can be given only once.

    Moving gently over the senses is ‘Caravan’, followed by the sharper, more definite melodies of ‘Romance’; portraying the freshness of new love, new beginnings, which flow seamlessly into the mellow nature of constant love, filled with a joyfulness which comes from acceptance, understanding and joy.

    ‘Farewell’ comes all too soon, as the soft sounds of birds and ocean waves breaking gently on the shore bid  you farewell as you are returned to your world feeling softer, more relaxed and at peace.