Alquimia A Separate Reality

Those who enjoyed her previous two albums (me included) will probably already have the cheque in the post but for those of you to whom Alquimia is a new name a little explanation might be helpful. She changes the rules. Her voice accompanies and works in harmony with the synths rather than detracting from them. The vocals are often wordless though sometimes on this album she uses English, Spanish, Nahuati and even Alquimish! On the opener soaring synths take us to a mystical land full of promise and beauty. The second track flows on from the first and it is here for the first time that her voice can be heard, painting wordless pictures of pure heaven. If this sound was a pre set on a popular synth you would be hearing it everywhere. Track three is the first structured number with infectious rhythms and melodies. The voice is again used to great effect, dancing in and out of everything else that is going on and complimenting it perfectly. On the next track we have more fantastic atmospherics, similar to the first number but building on it, creating a shimmering, multi layered wave of ecstasy from speakers to ears. Words can almost be made out but they act as part of the music rather than ‘singing’ in the traditional sense. The next track acts as a bridge to ‘Night of the Alebrijes’. Proper (non English) singing floats over the rhythmic backing. This is a far departure from the sort of music SMD usually sells and some of you will hate it. Sweet female singing and really quite commercial! I know I will now have put a lot of you off but after you have listened to the album a few times I think you will appreciate just how well the track fits. At fifteen minutes it gets very hypnotic and the sound of Alquimia’s voice should get under your skin in a rather pleasant oo err sort of way. ‘Solar Quest’ is another singy, this time in English, even more commercial than the last one, masterful melodies and angelic vocals backed by a fantastic sequence. The final track is another non English song. It is a perfect combination of baroque stylings and orchestral synthesis. By my description of the last three tracks you would think that there is no way that this album would find its way into any self respecting EM fans collection but you would be wrong. A few months ago she played this material in front of 750 people at the Alpha Centauri festival in Holland (one of the post prestigious Electronic Music festivals in the world) and the audience simply went wild. She sold hundreds of CDs after the concert. In fact they ran out! People that didn’t manage to get a copy were still handing over their money and leaving their addresses so that a copy could be forwarded to them after the gig. Alquimia will always be something of an enigma, bridging many styles of music but really creating a category all of her own. (DL)

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