It’s funny how you can think you know an artist. You’ve listened to their music, you’ve seen them live, and you reckon you’ve got a fair idea of what they’re going to give you.
Then, occasionally, something comes along that makes you realise there’s a lot more going on than you’d imagined.
Normally, records arrive at MV to be reviewed. This one happened a little differently. I saw a review online, realised I hadn’t been sent the album, and contacted Troy Redfern myself. He very kindly sent it over. I’m glad he did.
“Astral Doorways” isn’t his first instrumental record, but you’d suggest it might be his most ambitious and far-reaching. Across four substantial pieces and two shorter interludes, Redfern gives himself room to explore, and you can almost feel him stretching himself as it unfolds.
He plays every instrument here, too. The press release explains that the music was composed primarily on piano and nylon-string guitar, and that change of approach is fundamental to what you hear. The keys, in particular, are a revelation.
The opening “Suite: Astral Doorways” makes that clear. There’s jazz here, there’s prog, and the use of keyboards is absolutely incredible. It’s one of those pieces where you find yourself wondering where the next passage is going to take you, then marvelling at the way he gets there. The playing is impressive, of course, but the scope of the composition is what really takes you aback.
If that was a journey, then “The Plains of Zula” transports you somewhere as dry as the Eastern deserts. There are so many twists and turns, so many ideas passing through, that it demands your attention. Redfern seems determined to follow his imagination wherever it leads.
“Emanations” is the first of the two palate cleansers, a brief display of dazzling skill that flows into “Elysium in Parallax” wonderfully well. There’s a sense of confusion about the latter, a feeling of trying to get your bearings as the music shifts around you. It’s absorbing, even when it leaves you wondering quite where you are.
“Dark Celestial” offers the second of those little sorbets before “The Fire Stones of Areelia” brings things to a close. Even by this point, it’s surprising just how different this record is. The keys remain so prominent in the mix, while those Eastern sounds continue to run through the music. There’s an awful lot to take in, and the skill involved in bringing it all together is striking.
Troy Redfern is a wonderful blues artist. There’s a primal quality to his playing, and a touch of mysticism has always seemed to hang around his work. I’ve reviewed plenty of his records, but this one was a challenge. It’s not what you’d call easy listening, and there are moments when you have to work to keep up with him.
The ability to craft these pieces, though, to give all those ideas shape and carry them through, marks him out as a real talent. I knew he could play. “Astral Doorways” has made me reassess just how far his imagination reaches.
At times, the sheer scope of it is breathtaking.
Rating: 8.5/10
