Neroli

Album Review

As beautiful and sparse as anything produced to date, ambient pioneer Brian Eno sets a mood of quiet contemplation that, as he himself states in the liner notes, is a piece to "reward attention, but not (be) so strict as to demand it." Single notes resonate like heavy drops in deep water in a seemingly random but harmonic pattern that shifts quietly for close to an hour. "Neroli" brings a sense of weightlessness; it feels as much like an installation piece as it does an actual song. To that end, Neroli has been implemented into some maternity wards, both to instill a sense of calm as well as enhance the organic nature of childbirth (it was said that Eno even planned to release a longer version of this piece for such purposes). A secondary title for Neroli is "Thinking Music, Part IV." Indeed, a strong meditative quality can come over the listener without any particular emotion attached to it, making it ideal for all sorts of calming applications in the home, office, spa, or space station. It's like having a painting on the wall with an on/off switch; the piece simply exists, rather than evolves. This is the sound of a constellation of stars quietly minding its own business. A simple, unique masterpiece.