Nebula
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Album Title: Nebula |
| Record Label: TENSHI RECORDS |
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| Catalog No.: TENS-0004 |
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| Release Date: October 26, 2018 |
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| Purchase: Buy at Amazon Japan |
Overview
Nebula, released under TENSHI RECORDS, is an album composed by Supersweep (no individual credits given) aimed at providing more relaxing, healing style music and isn’t necessarily catered to the video game music community. Themed around the concept of space, it provides an interesting soundscape that does differ quite a bit from the typical Supersweep sound. How does this experiment turn out?
Body
The album opens with “Seginus,” a track full of ambient and ethereal synths that features a crisp piano and synthesizer melody that is warm, yet oddly “cold,” and gives off a sense of vastness. It’s unobtrusive and has a cinematic feel to it. “Caph” is more piano focused with chimes and has a peaceful feel to it that support the ambient backgroud while “Nashira” continues with a similar trend but falls a bit flatter than others on the album. “Scheat” offers up droning ambiance with spacey synths that are interrupted with sporadic piano phrase while “Gcrux” is an ethereal tune with atmospheric synths, piano, and bird chirps, which seem a bit out of place for a space themed album. These bird chirps are also present on “Sabik” alongside chimes and various synthesized tones, but doesn’t quite sound as satisfying.
Things get a bit more game-like with “Anlair,” featuring keyboards, a more melodically focused tune, and a soothing, atmospheric background. It’s one of the highlights on the album for sure. “Nekkar” incorporates acoustic guitar, waves crashing, and also has a bigger focus on melody, although it still isn’t as much in the forefront as “Anlair.” Soft piano and echoed synthes mix with peaceful and quirky synths to create a ethereal and layered sound in “Aludra” while the album closes with “Menkalinan,” a tune with droning synthesizers and an atmospheric presence with little use of any organic instrumentation. It’s a relaxing way to close the album.
Summary
In the end, Nebula is certainly not going to be for everyone, especially those who prefer more active music. However, the soundscapes provided generally succeed in creating a peaceful,relaxing, and often meditative environment, even if some of the sound effects are a bit strange, given the inspiration for the album. However, it doesn’t feel as warm or inviting as the previous album, luana.
Do you agree with the review and score? Let us know in the comments below!
3.5
Posted on January 7, 2019 by Don Kotowski. Last modified on January 7, 2019.
About the Author
Don Kotowski Currently residing in Philadelphia. I spend my days working in vaccine characterization and dedicate some of my spare time in the evening to the vast world of video game music, both reviewing soundtracks as well as maintaining relationships with composers overseas in Europe and in Japan.
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