Benjamin Fraser is a very young musician who just released Mother. He started working on this album when he was fourteen. That was the same age I started working on music except the year was 1995. In 1995 you didn’t have much besides some tape and microphones to record with. These days you don’t need more than a computer to sound like a full orchestra and that’s more of what we see here.
Fraser starts with “Cry of Triumph” and this very much sounds like it’s coming from a computer. There is brass that sounds like sine waves and what seems to be virtual strings. The piano and drums also had that sort of quality. There are some notable melodies coming from the piano. “Skies Of Grey” is a simple mood piece revolving around piano, pads and percussion while “Awe and Wonder” is a short vignette which sounds like the title. “Rise Up” is a more epic sounding track with some really well done piano playing. I liked “Mother” quite a bit which is warm and melancholy and contains some exceptional piano melodies. “Hurt” is also quite good and again revolves around simple piano. The more ethereal sounding “Healing” is another song that sounds like its title. “Forgiven” is more interesting piano while “A Dark Night '' sounds cinematic like it could be in film. Fraser has a lot of talent. I don’t know the extent of his story but if he isn’t already I encourage him to play with other musicians and the school orchestra if there is one. If he hasn’t been exposed to composers like Max Richter and Ben Luckas Boysen I would encourage him to get familiar with their music. Fraser is very talented on the piano and on his release the sparse pieces revolving around that were his best efforts. He does flirt with more grand ideas but it really felt like a lot of it needed to escape the confines of a computer. Overall, I was impressed. Kraser is obviously just getting started and I think as long as he stays dedicated the talent will certainly expand. I look forward to hearing more as he evolves.
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