‘Reach the Stars’ by Alex Wellkers, runs through veins of rock and pop. The 13 tracks evoke emotion, manipulation of textural weight, and burden of lyrics. The title track “We Knew It All”, is an unbridled wall of emotion crashing against the shoreline of our ears. “Give Me the Keys” has the urgent feel of a longing to be free. Strings and acoustic drumming along. “See Me There” slides toward the groovier side. The pulse is lighter, more breezy, and when the saxophone sweeps in it takes the song into a short meditative space. The track “Desert Island” sounds lonely and aching with a harmonic and melodic yearning to reach out.
“There Is Cars” has strings and a lap steel guitar mesh together to add the same thick feel that the vocals had already been delivering and the snare on the drums is pummeling. The shift in language in “Alles Nicht So Schlimm” is a lighter one than the immediately previous track, but no less skilful in its weight. The romantic track, “Tu Es Ici” carries a French title and a supernatural or dream-like quality to it. “She Will Say” is another strong moment in the album, but it is over much too quickly. The strings and flute are airy but the lyrics pack a wallop. “The Key” reverts to the more rock nature of the album. The drums in this one are more snappy, with less reverb on the kit and the guitars are punchier. “Mystic Saint” has the piece an aural weight that had not been felt so clearly and distinctly before this. It is haunting.
“What Are You Searching For” is almost the personification of a single person turning the questions inward. The following track “Now The Pages Have Been Turned” closes a number of the thoughts that have been floating throughout the album. The final track “Au Revoir” is cinematic in its swelling and ebbing of strings and rising cymbals. ‘Reach the Stars’ doesn’t simply cross boundaries between genres, but it amalgamates several emotional strings to form a marionette that dances and sways in the confines of these beautiful walls of sound.
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