Peter Ormerod - Music from Another Place

Peter Ormerod

​Music from Another Place
self-released; 2017

3.7 out of 5

By Jamie Funk

Peter Ormerod is musician from England who recently released Music from Another Place. There are a couple of things of note about Ormerod that you may find interesting. Besides playing with a couple of notable bands the most perhaps unusual thing about him is how he perceives and writes music. The way he describes it it seems as if he experiences music as if he is an unique being visiting from a different dimension.

The first claim is that his music comes to him in his dreams. He says “Although quite diverse in terms of mood and style, all the music came to me in dreams or daydreams, as if from another place.” As someone who has gone to school for composition and has been writing for over twenty years it seems a little far fetched. Perhaps I’m not sure what he means. Does he get complete compositions transmitted in his sleep and have them instantly memorized? Interesting claim that I would be interested to pick his brain about. The second thing of note is a certified condition I read about years ago. Ormerod is a synaesthete which means he sees colors when he hears music. There isn’t too much out there about the condition but definitely worth a detailed Google search.

Now that you know a little bit about Ormerod the title of the album may make more sense. Music from Another Place is an instrumental album that revolves around the piano. Ormerod is unequivocally a great piano player and that is the appeal of the album. His music leans towards the atmospheric, new age, ambient side. It’s relaxing, easy to listen to and avoids dissonance. I have to say it's similar to the kind of music that I hear when I’m getting acupuncture.

I couldn't tell if the piano was organic or digital and in the end it's doesn't matter. It sounded intimate, warm, and authentic. Ormerod often utilizes ornamental atmospheric which support the piano melodies. The only slight problem I have was the sound of the drums which sounded static and artificial. He doesn't utilize drums very often so it wasn’t much of an issue.

The album was cohesive and fluid. It definitely has a certain scheme of tones and textures that he presented. The highlights to me were actually the last three songs and “All The Building.”

Music from Another Place wasn't a particularly challenging album when comparing it to other pianists like Ben Lukas Boysen or Greg Haines. The songs were contained and strayed away from experimental or off-kilter ideas. It very much felt like relaxing mood music which might serve you best if you were feeling a little anxious or overwhelmed.

​Ormerod certainly has some talent and I am interested to hear what other songs are delivered to him which he can present to us.

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