Though his 2020 myndstream debut album Becoming launched him into his incredible fourth decade of timeless new age recordings, it feels like the music of German born composer/keyboardist Bernward Koch was created specifically for an anxious collective time like this, where emotional challenges abounded and feelings of hope – and the opportunities to truly relax our minds and souls – were in short supply.
Yet no matter the time it was composed or the original inspiration, Koch believes that music can play a key role in our lives during a phase like this – and maybe even serve as a conduit to help us envision its eventual departure. His latest single, the starkly elegant, classical influenced “An Old Fairy Tale” is just the sort of hypnotic, soulful and meditative piece we need at this juncture. Though gentle and quiet at the start and later in the flow, at one point Koch sways gracefully into a more optimistic expression, with a lush caress of synth ambience and bell/chime effects.
It’s a bounty of hypnotic relaxation with just enough joy to keep our spirits in an expectant mode that somehow, some way, all will be well. In many ways, as his follow-up to Becoming, “Old Fairy Tale” feels like a rejoinder to some of the tracks on that album – equivalent to the vibe and theme of “The Harvest” and “Floating Leaves” and the logical seasonal sequel to the full on blossoming exuberance of “The Bright Spring” and “Lavender Fields.”
“An Old Fairy Tale” is one of six individually released tracks that are part of myndstream November Flight collection – the second in a series of seasonal collections of tracks handpicked by the label’s Head of A&R and General Manager (and veteran two time Emmy winning artist) Michael Whalen. The first, released in August 2021, was titled Summer Flight.
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