Sunlounger - The Beach Side Of Life

He started this summer with the third wave of his Magic Island mix series
- his 'see-you-soon' musical-message to Balearically-minded people
everywhere. The compilation prefaced one of the most incredible summer
seasons of Roger's career - one that has seen him take his unique,
spellbinding LIVE show to all four corners of the globe - witnessed by
tens of thousands of people along the way.
This October he'll book-end it with his 'closing party', the last sunset
stroke of his 2010 summerà Under his most famous alias, Shah delivers
Sunlounger's third artist album. The man to whom summer is as much an
obsession as it is a season will again enthral with super-warm pads &
super-chilled riffs; ones that will create a fresco of new music, infused
& influenced, at every turn, by the sun.
'Beach Side's start-point - both spiritual and actual - is Salinas,
Ibiza, where Roger captured the ambient sounds, the lapping waves and his
own muted musings for the title track. Back in the studio the drums and
looping lamenting guitar refrains were brought in and they provide the
perfect introduction to 'A Beach Side's musical M.O.
Back in 2008 Roger & vocalist Zara Taylor recorded 'Lost' - a track that
proved to be the most popular trance track of that year (as voted for by
the listeners of A State Of Trance). Both producer and vocalist felt that
'the story' merited a concluding part and recorded 'Found'. Already a
single in its own right it adds to the album's indolent complexion.
Vocalists have played a key role in of the first two Sunlounger albums
and that naturally enough that continues with pt.3. On 'Beautiful Night'
Antonia Lucas' vocoded lyrics and harmonies are interspersed by radiating
synths and pads sequences, whilst on 'Life' Lorilee's ebullient vocals
soar high. After 'Don't Wake Me Up', their collective club-smash, Inger
Hansen's voice became a firm favourite of Roger's and its elegiac-ally
tinged tones can be heard again on 'Breaking Waves'.
As much as the album is recorded with a more meditative view of the
trance genre, there are a few tracks that, in their original forms, edge
their way off the sands and head in the direction of the clubs. With its
samba sounds & stabby uplifting synthology, 'Son of a Beach' is a
sure-fire foot mover and 'Summer Escape's strong, stirring lead-line is
likely to engender the same effect in the arms dept! 'Trademark White'
meanwhile (a reference to Shah's own on-stage persona) holds off on some
of the traditional vibrant Sunlounging percussion to give a more
stripped-down musical perspective.
As with the first two albums, 'The Beach Side of Life' is an LP for those
who - like Roger - see beauty in live instrumentation, languid sounds &
lower-end tempos. New to pt.3's musical make-up are imaginative emerging
world music themes & purpose-captured ambient effect-ology. These all
coalesce into a CD that creates a whole new art of chill.