Label: Independent
Not knowing what to expect that observation of her sound gave me a good head start. Listening right from the beginning I heard a beautiful, impassioned, and talented vocalist. With the title being the Pleiades, you would think all the track titles were referenced to other entities outside of our world. That would be true in regards to space and otherworldly gods from Greek Mythology. I am not well educated in that realm so I had to do my research to see what the tracks meant beyond what I had already gleaned from the information I was provided.
The Pleiades is the title and it is the celestial musings of the seven sisters. The whisperings of the sisters into the spheres are the ancient legends she vocalizes. Is this mythology or did seven otherworldly beings emerge from the stars to visit us one day? Mythology, legend, grand stories? It all comes to mind all at once while listening and wondering how it all came to be in the first place.
This being my first exposure to this artist, and even though I do not understand the language she was singing, I found it all to be very expressive with a hint of mystery about the mythological foundation from which this wellspring of music and vocalizations found inspiration.
This music provides a nice background for Christel’s smooth and inviting vocal style. Christel is a world traveler and has gained a lot of exposure and ideas for her music from a multitude of residencies. She is also a talented multi-linguist. This is her second release that has gone into the realm of ambient space music rather compositional. I would call it ambient electronic world music. I think that is a fair assessment but it is my perception and I leave it up to each listener to decide. Also, many listeners do not need to know what genre it is to listen and enjoy the music. That is our option as listeners, however, in my case, I must take a deeper dive.
A few of these tracks are exceptionally long, “Celaeno” clocks in at 12:11 and the closer “Electra” comes in at 10:44. That is a very progressive attitude to adopt considering many listeners are not understanding what you are singing about. Regardless of the length, this woman breaks all barriers and creates something so unique and refreshing that you just have to keep listening. That is the goal of any recording artists so mission accomplished Christel Veraart.
Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck-New Age Music Reviews Founder
October 12, 2020
Track List:
1. Taygete
2. Maia
3. Asterope
4. Merope
5. Celaeno
6. Alcyone
7. Electra
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