The inherently visual qualities of ambient music are perhaps one of the strongest appeals of the genre. One can imagine beautiful vistas, arcane rituals, traveling to unknown areas, all in the space of a single album's play. In this way it is akin to visual art, where the attentive viewer instills a piece with his or her own personal interpretation and meaning, quite often separate from any intentions the creator of the art work had when the piece was executed. This powerful response often increases the appeal of a certain musical composition beyond the confines of what is done on the disc.

Such is the supreme appeal of Jeff Pearce's music. It's a deceptively simple formula: washes of gorgeous ambient guitar sound rolling in and out inexorably, like tidal movement. Recently Pearce has mixed his purely atmospheric work with thematic guitar pieces (as on the very fine Bleed), but for me his strongest style is his mastery of celestial tones and rapturous driftwork. Pearce continually excites with his singularly airy (but never fluffy), sacred sounding, ambient music. This sound is purely his own, and it's clear Pearce spends much time honing his work to communicate pure emotional resonance.

Pearce's most recent ambient work, Summer Solstice, is a marked continuation of the sounds explored on To the Shores of Heaven, and is a much more satisfying follow-up to that excellent album than The Light Beyond. On Summer Solstice, a light, floating sensation fills the listener from the first moments of track one, "The Longest Day." This is the sound of lying back on a grassy hill with sun in eyes. It's hard to decide exactly how Pearce instills a spiritual feeling (and what sort of spiritual feeling it is can also be a source of mystery) in his music, but that feeling is strong and oceanic, as if you have somehow viewed an unchanging truth about the universe--this knowledge is important, but its application is unknowable.

Herein lies the paradox of Pearce's work: you feel that something distinctly spiritual is going on, but you can't put your finger on exactly what, nor can you quite define what you mean by spiritual. This is probably one of the base pleasures of an album like Summer Solstice; you can attribute whatever imagery you like to it. In this way, since I heard Pearce's album Daylight Slowly, I've drawn parallels in his music to the work of artist Michael Whelan. This is an utterly personal connection for me--but I will forever associate Pearce with Whelan's work, and the two make a good pair. In "Life in the Dusk Air" from Summer Solstice it's simple to imagine resting on a rock over a grassy plain watching swooping birds and insects as the sky above slowly kaleidoscopes pink, purple, deep cerulean. This experience is truly universal: in a Pearce composition, we are on Earth; in a Whelan painting, we are on a planet far distant. "With Evening Above" begins uncharacteristically (for this particular Pearce CD) with a chiming guitar melody. Many ambient CDs give the impression of stargazing in moonlight, but this particular track is more melancholy, as if the stars above only serve to remind us how earthed we are. This track would not be out of place on Bleed and makes a nice counterpoint to the soundscaping on the other five tracks. "Star Swimming" is a quiet, shimmering piece with frequent builds and fades of guitar ambience. You are floating on the sea or on the currents of space--either way the limitless surrounds pillow you. "Slow into Morning" quietly ushers in bright radiance with gusty swells of sound, and some slow, sweet e-bow work, bringing this recording to a very satisfying conclusion.

In total, Summer Solstice can function as the aural equivalent of the longest summer day (and night) one can have, packed with warm sun, relaxing tones, and, later, a similarly beautiful night sky. But, as we've seen, Pearce's soundscapes are singularly ambiguous. One can just as easily have a twilit trip across the stars, an idyllic existence amongst the trees of a distant planet, or a drift on some barge across as crystal clear river. Whatever the imagery you choose, you are in good hands with Pearce, who continues to surprise and delight with his assuredly vibrant guitarscapes. No one does ambient quite like Pearce, and it's always a treat to return to the domain he solely inhabits. I’ve listened to this one regularly since I got it. Essential work by one of neo-ambient’s brightest lights.

Available as a self-produced CDR directly from Jeff Pearce (this was originally sold exclusively at a concert). Pearce can be contacted at pearce@hypnos.com.

since July 15, 2003