The album opens with "Droplets," and yes, right away we get the sense of steady droplets, falling slowly enough that we can watch them individually, can experience them, finding ourselves reflected in their movement. There is something soothing here, and something uplifting. When we can focus on one moment, one act, one movement, the world begins to make some sense. And here we are without distraction, the music offering a sort of meditative vibe. In the second half, there is a subtle change in emotion, as we shift, or slip, into slightly more somber territory, if only momentarily. Perhaps memories intrude at that moment. Yet it's all right, even as things slow and reach their conclusion, the piece having a hopeful and soothing final moment. That's followed by "The Happy Day." There is a happiness expressed, and so experienced, here. It is a gentle, soft joy, at least at the start. Then it finds a certain rhythm, and explores it with some excitement, before then taking another breath and falling back into a more tranquil space and mood. There is no need to rush anything here. The day is ours, as the sunlight plays upon our faces.
There is something wonderfully youthful to "Swell Season," like we are taking our first steps and seeing what the reaction is, what the result is to our movement, what the result of our own existence is in a strange world, and finding that creating a pattern can be a joyous thing. We humans naturally look for patterns, but what a thing it is to find that we can create them too. Before the end, the pace increases, as if we are excited to find where this pattern might lead, where it might take us, eager perhaps to complete the pattern. That is followed by "Tranquility." As its title promises, this piece has a relaxing effect. This track creates a gentle beauty, a place where we can slow our pace, let go of tension, momentarily let go of obligations, and just breathe and smile. Here even memories don't overtake us, at least not at first. Rather, there is a sweet absence of relations, of associations. Until we near the end, and then memories begin to play before us, hazy hints of the past rising to be contemplated.
As "Texture" begins, a thick light breaks over the horizon. The trees' branches feel the weight of it, bending, and we reach up to touch it ourselves, finding a certain perch closer to the sky, to the source. There is a blues element here, and it is like we offer up a song or offer up our own blues, and are met with a certain tension before the piece relaxes at the end. Then, with "The Ether," it is a wonder to find the light now comes from the blues, a celestial blues that spreads itself across the heavens, and then focuses on us as individuals. Gentle fingers play upon our small piece of reality, and mold it into something pretty. The motion of "Up" is upward, as the title suggests, starting from below and rushing up. And then again. And then again. Yet it is no chore, no work of Sisyphus. In fact, we take pleasure in it, even in the repetition. There is something comforting in that. And we turn to face a place of light, a place of beauty. With "Daffodil," we experience a gentle movement in a warm breeze. There is something soothing about that movement, a letting go. Isn't that what we want these days? To let go, at least for a moment? To find ourselves untethered to the world's stress and hardships.
As with "Up," there is a repeated upward movement to "Patterns" too, at the beginning, done without hesitation, without concern of it being the wrong motion or direction. Rather, it is done with joy of the pattern, and soon increases in pace. Then when a certainly lightness of spirit is achieved, we find ourselves on a different plateau, and so the pattern changes. After all, we have a different perspective now. Have we achieved a certain wisdom? Or would it be foolish to think that just because we are in a different place that we've attained anything special" For before the end we are repeating the initial pattern, though for a briefer time now. There is a pattern to "At Heaven's Door" too. We humans are conditioned to seek and find patterns, and so we do. In the sky, and in our motion through the heavens. We see them even in places where they might not exist. Partway through this track, a pulse from the distance finds us, and changes the way we view our surroundings, touching us in the darkness, where we feel alone. But that sense of loneliness soon begins to disappear, or perhaps to not matter as much.
CD Track List
- Droplets
- The Happy Day
- Swell Season
- Tranquility
- Texture
- The Ether
- Up
- Daffodil
- Patterns
- At Heaven's Door
Clouds 7 was released on July 1, 2026.
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