Phillip Schroeder Releases A Wonderful Body of Work

A new release from Philip Schroeder brings together two of the most beautiful instruments to create a set of soundscapes and moods that can be beautifully overwhelming at times, laced with emotion, and can trigger a lot of thought as you listen to the songs unfold.

The Radiance Within record is composed mainly of violin and piano, along with some precaution here and there. The record starts with its title track, which takes you through some beautiful melodies, a free-flowing piano approach, and a cinematically driving and spacious world.

This is a track that sets you up for the rest of the record because as this set of songs plays through, you are attaching yourself to those moods and emotions that the songs actually deliver, and the beauty of that is how the songs can set those tones and moods, but let your mind go where it will.

This is such a beautiful aspect, and the performances throughout the entire record are, at times, intense, sullen, bright, and have this wonderful passion about them.

The album does come with some experimental sides, but mainly it is a set of tracks that have these wonderful arrangements and have particular ways of setting your mind at ease in certain aspects.

I definitely am more attached to the expansive, vast, and spacious songwriting approaches with songs like the title track and one of my favorites, "Being In Wonder", which goes through these gorgeous and sort of colorful progressions and notes performed heavily on the piano and delivering such a warmth with a lot of classical undertone but also hints of jazz in there too.

This is part of the wonderment of a record like this. It is a blend of classical pieces and hints of jazz that are intertwined in there, so you can hear some different influences coming to the plate throughout the record's unfolding, and the way that he sort of laces these melodies into certain sections of songs is quite outstanding.

Some of these melodies end up sticking with you, and you find yourself searching for them through the songs again.

At least, that's what happened to me.

This is the kind of album you should sort of soak in from start to finish so that you can really take in everything that it offers.

Each one of these has a different story to tell, to an extent. They have these shapes and flavors that can not just set moods, but extend how you feel inside.

These pieces reach you in a certain way, and if you open up your mind to it, you can feel that connective energy.

I think this is also an aspect of the record that is important. That fluctuation of energy throughout the entire album is a beautiful thing because it comes in waves.

Certain violent performances may swallow you up. Others may brighten you up. There are a lot of sections where the violins have three or four layers of melodies coming through, and it just feels Lush and beautifully full, still performing these sorts of melodic hooks, if you will.

It makes me wonder if some of this was improvisational while it was being recorded.

It feels like a live performance when you listen to it. Between the piano and the violin, at times it feels like you're right there in the moment with them.

This is an album that invites you to tag along and drift with the emotion and melody that are given, which I found to be a bit refreshing and, at times, even rejuvenating.

I love a record that can pull you in the way that this one does.

Philip Schroeder himself performs the piano while Margaret Jones is on the violins, and Alan Zimmerman performs some gongs.

You can hear this sort of free-flowing and slightly experimental, outside-the-box structural approach to the tonal brightness and darkness in the arrangements that make these songs have some impact.

A great amount of thought went into how these would come across, while the performances let things feel alive and breathing.

I definitely soaked this in all the way through, and it really was quite a wonderful experience that I suggest you take part in.

Again, going from beginning to end is the best way to embed yourself into this record.

It feels good to let yourself go and get swept up in everything that's happening.

Don't just take my word for it, though. Sit back, relax, close your eyes, and listen to Radiance Within.

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