“Utterly brilliant.”
“…this album proves that [her] journey to genius is in full motion…”
“…an album that is artistic at every turn, packed with passion and flowing with some of the strongest emotions possible.”
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I am absolutely floored and honored to receive this glowing review from Steve Sheppard of One World Music Radio! He minces no words as he shares his frank appreciation for my new album Encounters of the Beautiful Kind, out June 1. Thank you for your beautiful words, Steve!
Read the full text below, listen to the radio review on MixCloud below, or check out the full complement of shows featuring Encounters of the Beautiful Kind on One World Music Radio.
Find Encounters of the Beautiful Kind anywhere digital music is streamed or sold, including here on my website, Bandcamp, and Spotify.
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Encounters of the Beautiful Kind By
Rachel LaFond
Written by
Steve Sheppard
I have listened to much solo piano; many albums have crossed my path this year alone, but I have to say that Encounters of the Beautiful Kind has a special resonance about its construction for me, so why not join me on another musical journey through music with Rachel LaFond. You will I hope, see the qualities of this artist with the same lyrical gaze that I do.
LaFond, since her last release Wandering Soul, has grown massively and one only has to listen to the single, the opener of the album, Luminous, to hear that statement ring true, this is one of the most confident and passionate songs I think I have ever heard her manifest into our world, her performance is truly Luminous.
Rachel LaFond has spent some time under the tutelage of David Lanz and it was indeed an honour to have met her a few months ago on the island of Cyprus, I have known of her skill and potential greatness on the keys, but this album proves that journey to genius is in full motion as we speak, just listen to the sensitive and delicate style employed on Your Beauty Calls Me, the fluency and artistic grace is so abundant for all to hear.
This lush creation of a colourful musical narrative is continued with the next offering entitled Heart Full of Memories. This is one of my personal favourites from the release; it’s emotive and extremely reflective nature builds an irresistible energy, its imploring nature and passion filled performance is simply outstanding and deeply moving.
Tears for Catalunya almost seems to be part of my musical universe these days, I just cannot seem to stop listening to it, its cultured and intelligent performance is something to marvel, and yes, I think I would adore watching the artist perform this live. Of course there is an emotional motif to the track, but one that seems to be able to express itself so beautifully, proving LaFond’s abilities of musical picture creation is growing with a richness and quality, one that expands with each touch of the keys.
A statement of confidence is made with ease next on the piece, You Will Conquer This Shadow. Here the artist shows us another side to her growing genius, one that sees a real sense of empowerment in performance and composition, the energy builds throughout the offering and offers hope and power to all who embrace the truth of possibility, and leave the well of negativity to run dry. This is a really clever arrangement by LaFond; one that I think will be appreciated by listeners and fans worldwide.
Love’s Labour’s Never Lost Is now upon us and yes, Shakespeare did write a comedy many years back with a similar title, but I can assure you this has nothing to do with that. Here LaFond seems to further continue her musical narrative of the preceding piece, by perhaps stating that once your fears have been conquered, give love a try one more time. Musically this is a beautifully played composition, we see the artist in full flow but also employing a truly sublime sense of intensity when needed.
As we slide so very gently into the latter half of the album we come across a charming opus called The Questions You Heart Asks, it is at this point that one can sense the Lanz influence grow even further, the care and attention to detail in this offering is quite breath taking and wonderful to listen to. Yes, this is another favourite of mine; the performance by LaFond here is multi-faceted and intelligently sensitive it in construction, this is a fine example of a track that one could leave playing on repeat for hours.
The arm goes around the friend, he sighs and cries and the artist softly and deftly says, Don’t Cry, Calvin. What warms the heart about this release is LaFond’s sublime skill set, her ability to create a different musical layer and emotion almost at a whim, from the emotive, to the empowering, from the
inspiring, to now, on this piece, to perhaps offer a musical narrative of reassurance within tone.
It is always good to have a moment of Unrestrained Joy and once more the artist shows her talents on a track that manifests yet another emotion, happiness in absolute abundance. Her performance here is assured and positive and thus this creates a real rising of the energies within this composition.
We have seamlessly arrived at the penultimate offering on the album and it’s called Shout to the Sun. I feel like the melody here is so familiar, but that’s clever in itself, it’s one of those arrangements that will crawl into your mind and you will find yourself humming it for ages. The performance here has a wonderful sense of clarity about its persona, one that will leave you fulfilled and empowered as it draws to its conclusion.
Now, before we step through the portal and away from the realm created here by Rachel LaFond, the musician has one more musical gift to leave us with and it is entitled A Knight’s Journey. It will only take a glance back at the voyage we have been on to realise that this has been a musical expedition of growth, endings and new beginnings, perhaps even more encounters of the beautiful kind can be found now, as we have grown enough to be transformed into the Knight and our journeying can begin again, perhaps this time to help others along the path that we have just walked. This is a stunning way to leave the album, the deepness of this track has to be felt and I would urge every listener to play this last musical present multiple times to gain the full effect of the composition, and each and every musical nuance along the way.
Encounters of the Beautiful Kind is a leap up the ladder for the composer, Rachel LaFond has rubbed shoulders with the great and good and the resulting effort is an album that is artistic at every turn, packed with passion and flowing with some of the strongest emotions possible. This is a milestone for the artist, and the legions of her fans and solo piano enthusiast’s should be cueing up at the door to get hold of a copy of this album, it is utterly brilliant.