Simon Farintosh is unlike any other musician you have heard. His neoclassical movement keeps the purity of the original sound, while still producing individual, refined pieces that reflect his own musicality. His latest album is a collection of some of the greatest instrumental music you’ll hear in quite some time. This is Noctuary.
Maybe choosing nylon strings isn’t enough. The way Simon Farintosh composes is the real magnet here. His tonality, threading elements to tell as story, is not just inspiring, but will leave you in awe. His opening single is called Witching Hour, and captures the essence perfectly. It is mystical, breaks through the silence in little pockets of narratives. It is like staring into the dusk, waiting for twilight to wash over you. All aren’t to do with shorter stories like this, though. Welcome to a song called Sleepwalking.
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I got addicted to this song for the familiarity of it. I felt like I knew how it would go, but Simon Farintosh throws his fair share of surprises. Should have known better than to predict what a classical guitarist would throw at me. Passing through the gentle breeze that is Liminal Moment, he makes it hurt with Black Dog. It is an emotional number, a definite tearjerker with a bluesy centre sometimes. It has some beautiful layers you’d see coming like a hazy light in a dark room.
Iridiscent instrumentals
Distant Moment is where I realised the epics this award-winning guitarist can write. His chain of thought is, at the least, unique to follow. As you see layers come together, you might be shocked to learn many of them are played at the same time. All the way till oblivion, he chooses the right notes to accent and affect the feeling.
I could write a review about how much I love the Liminal Moment threads. It is like a continuation from a dream to another, and he ensures it has tastes from the previous single. Beautiful, well-placed and still showcasing his songwriting abilities with a hint of conversancy, is what makes him a genius composer. Insomnia, songs like this, are what show his dynamic correlations to the instrument. Like the mind going quicker than clockwork, he captures that feeling perfectly, for anyone who has felt it.
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You also see the contrast in compositions in the way he produces his album. Ode to a Northern Sky is an essentially emotional piece after the drama of Insomnia. It is this wave and still water you come to appreciate eventually. It is heart-warming, yet tells of a sadness inside you that can be reached without words. Simply gorgeous.
As a self-proclaimed music critic, I feel most music is not mine to comment on. Here, all I can do is express my appreciation for those who chose to do this as their passion and life’s effort. Simon Farintosh is just following his calling, and I, like all who will listen to this, am glad to be a part of it. Listen to his texturally rich collection here:
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Self professed metalhead, moderately well read. If the music has soul, it's whole to me. The fact that my bio could have ended on a rhyme and doesn't should tell you a lot about my personality.
