A Beautifully Composed EP from Will Régnier

A breathtaking EP from Will Régnier delivers such a thematically robust and tonally expansive approach that it actually delivers its own atmosphere and each of the three pieces of music on this record takes a different approach but somehow still boasts this particular aesthetic that breeds a graceful and vast but semi-colorful underbelly.

Themes From Traces, Vol.2 is absolutely gorgeous and imagined from such a detailed place, written and arranged with attention to detail but created with a certain sense of freedom in terms of tonality and it all becomes so quickly engulfing that you get pulled away from wherever you are and whatever you're doing and taken on these little musical journeys.

They stem from a jazz kind of undertone and you can hear that especially clear in the first track, "Whereto - Themes from Traces".

This one is a great introduction to the record first of all. It showcases certain aspects of some of the staples that you will hear throughout the rest of the release but it is different because this one is composed with a beautifully warm set of acoustic instrumentation with piano and acoustic guitar.

This track delivers some amazing melodies that sort of dance around you and I love that aspect about it because it does indeed, bring out that sort of jazz tonality, especially with the notes that are played but it's performed with such a solid structure and brings this aesthetic with it that you end up getting very attached to.

That single is composed by Will and performed with Marcus Lowry, and Yannick Anctil. 

Again, a gorgeous and sort of flowing piece of music that introduces the record in such a unique manner that it becomes alluring.

The track that follows, "Not A Real Place - Themes from Traces", has an almost completely digital approach with an electronic backbone utilizing vintage sounding synths and keys that build this thriving kind of atmosphere which creeps in slowly and then builds up to something you can sort of drive with.

Now, it does have some piano in there so there is bits of natural instrumentation within the electronic and I love the blending of those two elements completely.

To be able to blend the digital and natural instrumentation like this is no easy feat because it all works together like pieces of a puzzle so you have to know your tones in order to mix this properly.

This track has a great build and gets kind of intense with some very colorful synthesizers that come in and really jam out bringing an exciting approach and still, with all the color and energy that you could ask for.

The lead synthesizers become addictive. You want more and more of them even though there's plenty coming at you.

By the end of this track, it sort of exhales back down to a calmer place and starts bringing in other synth tones and textures to create a different element of an atmosphere as the song closes.

So, by the time you get through that second track you are seriously expecting the unexpected.

Although both the first two pieces of music were composed amazingly, they felt tonally completely different from each other in a sense.

That track was performed with Gabriel Thibault.

The third track, "Smoke and Mirrors", is the one that somehow blends both of the first two pieces together and does it in a sort of seamless and natural, forward moving flow.

The song features amazing instrumentation that is completely natural, wind instruments, live percussion, and more. The thing that brings the elements together is the fact that you hear this kind of floating synth pad that sticks around through the songs ether and this gives it a special kind of cinematic depth.

These tracks all showcased something slightly different from one another but still took shape and form with a particular aesthetic. Amazing pieces of music that take you on those musical journeys and if you listen to the whole EP from start to finish with headphones on, it's an amazing experience that you really don't want to miss.

Will Régnier composed these pieces and you can hear so many different influences fusing together throughout the course of this release that it's hard to put your finger on exactly what to call it.

This is why I call it an experience.

When any kind of record is released and it gives you an experience, it's worth listening to.

So, put some headphones on and take a deep dive into this EP as soon as you can simply to see what it does to you. See where this takes you because believe me, it will take you somewhere.

Remember where you heard it first.

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