Album Review: Rhian Sheehan - Paradigm Shift (LOOP Recordings)

Writer: Monica Runke

Written, performed, arranged, programmed and produced mostly by Rhian Sheehan, Paradigm Shift is an impressive achievement. Tracks have already featured on Café del Mar compilations vols.10 and 11 and the programming on various TV channels. This may give some idea of the overall 'chilled' vibe of the album, but vacuous background music it is not.

There is an otherworldly feel to the album from the start; the intro includes a sample of a news report about the space station Mir dropping into the ocean. Throughout, Sheehan layers real instruments with electronic sounds, beautifully synthesised and produced. There are complex beats and delicate vocals from Lotus Hartley on Waiting and Garden Children and Melissas McDonald and Eastham. The female vocals are in contrast to the male spoken voices which sound much like many typical electronic voice samples.

The strength of this album lies in the live instrumental sections, which give it the individuality to lift it above more mundane chilled electronica. Humoured is a short and sweet acoustic guitar tune which is lovely and has a warmth that some of the more spacey tunes lack. Journey to Wakatuhuri also features melodious twangy guitar. I can imagine this album sounding amazing at dawn in the New Zealand countryside, after a long night of partying. Soothing, but not saccharine.

Rhian Sheehan and Loop recordings have brought together a great and talented mixture of contemporary New Zealand artists who have created a musical breath of fresh air for tired urban ears everywhere.

RELATED LINKS:
More Info - on Rhian Sheehan's official website

Buy Rhian Sheehan's Paradigm Shift album at Amazon UK (CD)



PUBLISHED: 20 July 2004

RELEASE DATE: 12 July 2004

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