Candescence by Nick Davis

"

Robert Hugill - Music and Vision

"Sit back and savour this uplifting and passionate music."

Marius-Christian Burcea – RFI Radio

"Without a doubt, this work represents a great step forward in the musical career of this Australian composer. A new flame has been lit in his musical career and we hope that it remains alight for a long time."

Roberto Vales Fernandez - A Ultima Fronteira Radio

"There are ten pieces on this CD and they seem nicely balanced between lighter pieces and more melancholy songs." "Overall I enjoyed this album and found it very relaxing."

Michelle Taylor - Bella Online

"A delightful smorgasbord ... bound together by Nick's masterful mixing and arranging." "A beautiful and carefully wrought album."

Michael Woodhead - LuxAeterna

Although he is now known as a composer of music that is very much classical in style, he certainly did not start his musical career in that vein. Nick forged a reputation in the mid eighties as a skilled songwriter and a gifted pop keyboardist & vocalist releasing his first two solo albums in 1985. ‘Make it Happen’ reached number one on the West Australian Independent Charts and the follow up album ‘Déjà vu’ made it to number three.

In 1986 Nick formed an original band called De Vie. The band went on to become one of the foremost original acts in Perth and recorded an album entitled ‘Spice of Life’. Despite their potential, De Vie was short lived. The following year Nick withdrew from the music scene to focus on other interests after recording ‘Dress to Impress’, his third solo album.

THE NINETIES

It was not until 1992 that he re-emerged with ‘A Chance to Dream’, an album he produced and engineered in his own studio. The production values of the recording, the quality of musicianship and the strength of song writing earned praise.

In late 1992 Nick moved to Melbourne where he continued to hone his skills as a songwriter. He wrote commercial jingles and recorded with a number of local musicians.

Nick returned to Perth in 1996 with the desire to expand his musical horizons. Inspired by the World Music phenomenon, Nick set about recording ‘Tears of the Moon’ which was released in May 1997. The instrumental album received generous reviews and represented a significant departure from his previous writing styles.

After Tears of the Moon, Nick looked for a new challenge so he enrolled in an acting course. Upon finishing the course he landed the lead role in Playlover's production of David Williamson's Dead White Males. Dead White Males played to packed houses and Nick won plaudits for his performance. He then decided to combine acting and music and put together a Frank Sinatra tribute show. Performing under the stage name of Earl Cole, Nick is well known in Perth as a crooner. Although music composition is his passion, he loves performing the standards.

THE NEW CENTURY

Yearning to get back into writing music, Nick wrote and recorded ‘Eclipse’ in 2003. After a 6 year recording hiatus Nick produced an album that was an eclectic fusion of New Age, contemporary classical, Celtic and even jazz styles. Eclipse was Nick's attempt to step out of his comfort zone and take his writing to the next level. Despite favourable reviews, Eclipse failed to sit comfortably in any one genre and as adventurous as it was, it did not strike the same chord with listeners as Tears of the Moon. Eclipse was, however, a very important step in his musical development and he learnt a lot from the experience.

In March 2004 Nick set about writing material for ‘Tales of a Summer Past’. Released in February 2005, it is an album that is firmly in the realm of New Age classical/crossover classical music. Using only orchestral sounds he aimed to re-captured the energy of Tears of the Moon yet produced an album that explored the neo-classical far more deftly than did Eclipse. The reviews he received were extremely positive.

Not one to sit still for too long, Nick was driven to produce yet another album and commenced writing material for ‘Candescence’ in July 2005. Released in May 2006, Candescence is an album of orchestral music that tugs at the heart. It is romantic and passionate. The charming chamber music quality that characterised many of the compositions on Tales of a Summer Past is still prevalent, however Nick has delved more deeply into complex orchestral arrangements and developed musical ideas and concepts to a far greater degree. This has certainly not been at the expense of the music's accessibility.

Candescence will appeal to a broad spectrum of music lovers who enjoy high quality instrumental music.

Average Customer Review: