The Fata Morgana Dream

Continuing the most prolific run of his decades-long career, Forrest Fang's seventh album of the 2010s is an astonishing set of dense, hypnotic dreamscapes. The album's title references a complex, free-floating mirage which makes distant objects (such as ships) appear to be levitating over water, and the music itself has a similarly mystifying, hard-to-explain quality. The Chinese-American composer is well known for utilizing both Western and non-Western instrumentation, and these compositions blend enveloping synthesizer treatments with arrangements of Burmese gongs, zither, violin, a Japanese palm harp, and even a sound sculpture by Harry Bertoia. It's as ethereal as anything else released by Projekt, and far too haunting to be typecast as new age. Opener "The Mouth of the Sea" is truly stunning, spotlighting a gorgeous melody and building up foggy atmospherics until it verges on overwhelming. "Night Procession" is a blurry rush of fragile chimes and dancing hand drums, swept away in a subconscious trance. "Lullaby for a Twin Moon" is one of the album's most stripped-down pieces; it captures the sensation of leaving nearly everything behind in order to face one's fears. "Dream of the Last Fisherman" is much calmer and prettier, with gongs gently resounding behind a graceful palm harp melody, all bathing in an Orb-like drift. ~ Paul Simpson