Steve Roach - Skeleton Keys (2015)

There’s a worldwide analog modular synthesizer resurgence in full swing. Pioneering electronic musician Steve Roach taps into the zeitgeist on Skeleton Keys, a 74-minute album recorded using the Synthesizers.com large format analog modular synthesizer­/sequencer-based system. These are eight emotional and mind-expanding spiraling mandalas-of-sound made from interwoven tapestries of melody, rhythm, tone and musical space.

“Skeleton Keys connects directly to my first love in electronic music,” Steve Roach explains. “This form of music creates a living portal to a unique place in consciousness, emotion, body awareness and expansion of perception. It’s a place that can only be reached by way of this genre and these instruments, in particular the sequencer: a tool common within electronic music since early in its inception. I have been obsessed with the sound this instrument facilitates since my arrival as a composer in the late 70′s.”

With the availability of a new era of hardware instrument builders to draw from, in early 2014 Steve set out to create his ideal­ large format modular synthesizer­/sequencer-based system.

“My intention was single-minded,” Steve says, “to make these ‘Keys’ in particular. The instant this system was in place, the compulsion to create was unleashed. Each piece on this release is an aural skeleton key providing entry through these arcane doors to what awaits inside. In addition, the momentum of my life’s experience was vital in helping turn the skeleton key to open these doors at this precise moment.”

Steve’s artistic path is filled with new discoveries, both nuanced and dramatic. He brings to the table years of dedication and experience exploring sound via hands-on synthesis.

With the sense of an artist working in three dimensional space, Steve’s skill set creates an album that breathes power, passion and vital life energy. On Skeleton Keys Steve connects to the European EM masters at the roots of his electronic heritage while simultaneously mapping the soundworld of today’s contemporary technology-based music. The result is warm and engaging retro-futurism, a continuing evolution upon the musical structures Steve has unlocked in the restless pursuit of his soundquest.