James A. McDermid goes for glowing realms with the soothing ambient washes of “Tonal Glints”. Infused with tremendous melodies, James A. McDermid balances between the real and the imagined. Done with the utmost of grace everything about these pieces teems with such life. Hope radiates out of these small suites, while James A. McDermid employs a series of tactile sounds into the mix ensuring that everything feels living and breathing. Rhythms have a pastoral quality to them, for James A. McDermid eschews percussion. By opting out of a more conventional rhythm means these pieces have a dreamy, hazy quality to them.
Setting a curious opener is the playful music box quality of “The vagabond”. From there things start in earnest with the serene beauty of “All the shutters are closed”. A hazy quality comes to define the entirety of the track, allowing it such tremendous beauty. By far the highlight of the collection it simply washes over in a blissful, half-dreamed sort of way. Elements of folk appear in the ghostly atmosphere of “I’ll take one who loves me”. The spacious “Within reach” goes for a deeper presence, one nearly mystical in tenor. Field recording meets ambient composition on the gentle “If you concede”. Eerie with its otherworldly presence is “I saw red, and through the red, nothing”. Bringing the album to a close the reflective “Faraway Too Close” feels just right.
On “Tonal Glints” James A McDermid explores an entire universe of sound, one that feels so vivid and full of color.
Krysalisound 