Following on from his earlier offering this year, the exquisite Themes For Dying Earth, Jamison Isaak is back with a new Teen Daze record already. The sublime Themes For A New Earth is out today on Jamison's own FLORA label and it's the sort of release I would highly recommend to attentive listeners.
Opening with the feather-light "Shibuya Again", Isaak then segues into the gently-propulsive "On The Edge Of A New Age" with its rippling guitar-figures and delicate keyboard-lines. Elsewhere, "River Walk" reminded me of the sort of thing found on the second half of David Sylvian's sprawling Gone To Earth, Isaak's axe echoing hooks from both Fripp and Bill Nelson in spots, while the quietly-lush "Station" offered up nods in the direction of both Harold Budd and The Blue Nile. Teen Daze pulls this sort of thing off with a great deal of ease and a decided lack of pretension. In that regard, Isaak seems to be placing himself (rightly) next to musicians like Vini Reilly who favor a kind of deliberate and delicate music-making that sometimes hints at more than it delivers. As Themes For A New Earth ends with "Prophets", an attentive listener feels transported and thankful that music like this is still being made somewhere on this earth.
Perhaps more easily accessible than his last record, Themes For A New Earth is out today on FLORA. More details on Teen Daze there.
[Photo: Cameron Ballensky]