Sometimes there is a problem with albums of neo-classical music with the piano as the leading instrument – they can overstay their welcome. This is is particularly the problem when the artists/musicians involved seem not to be able to recognize that thin line between nuance and monotony.
On the other hand, composer/sound designer Jaime Bermúdez Escamilla, who works under the name of Jaime del Adarve certainly doesn’t have this problem on his debut EP Neu – it is a poignant 4-set of compositions that are definitely nuanced and definitely they do not overstay their welcome.
The problem though may be that the EP is ultimately too brief since the music is simply brilliant, and that is not due to the fact that the whole affair runs under 10 minutes.
As somebody who started seriously playing music in his early teenage years, passed through a metal band, and later on co-founded his own video game company he definitely gained enough knowledge and experience to harness the talent to create detailed, sophisticated music. Not to mention that he is currently also an interactive music lecturer at the University of Barcelona and he also writes for the classical music magazine Press Music.
The brevity of the music on Neu might lie in the fact that it was first conceived for the stage. Escamilla then revisited and reshaped these four compositions as an independent body of work.
The resulting music might be brief, but gives an excellent insight into a talent that will definitely produce some great music to come.
