Wiki
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Release Date
13 February 2011
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Length
15 tracks
Past Lives is a collection of work from a certain period in my musical life. In some ways it represents a transition period from my world and new age music to a more traditional, song based approach. There are still plenty of quirky instrumental tracks and wild instrumentation! Though my sound has moved on and evolved greatly since this album, I still enjoy the world it inhabits.
Harvey Summers is a recording artist in the truest sense of the word and listening to 'Past Lives' is like watching an artist caress the canvas with his brushes. As Summers paints his musical pictures, so the listener is transported to wherever it is Harvey Summers wants you to go. Atmospheric tracks like, opener, 'The Third Policeman' and 'Carnival Of Dancing Babies' are scattered with odd sound effects, squeaks, pops and other interesting noises for example but such is Summers skill, what could otherwise be annoying distractions, enchant and fascinate evoking thoughts of 'a genius at work in the studio'. Equally clever, is Summers selective use of instrumentation and melodies that have a 'familiar' sound to them. I challenge anyone not to think at some point during this album of Tom Barnaby and the 'Midsomer Murders' theme or Gillian Anderson and 'The X-Files' though neither of those theme tunes nor copies of such appear anywhere on this album! Tracks like 'Broken Piano' are particularly experimental and make no bones about being so either but skillfully slotted in to the patchwork pattern of this album, Harvey manages to entice you to 'come with him into this world of wonder' making you glad that you do. The Accordian playing on 'Past Lives' is a particular delight also. Weaving in and out of the majority of the tracks it is the 'arm around the shoulder' from the artist that makes you feel special and valued as the listener. - Antony May, Amazon Top 500 Reviewer
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