| Category | Rating |
|---|---|
| Track Structure | 10 |
| Interest | 10 |
| Melody | 9 |
| Performance | 10 |
| Lyrics | 0 |
| Enjoyment | 10 |
| Recording Quality | 10 |
| Commercial Appeal | 8 |
| Overall | 9.6 |
Beautiful - of course. It's a very confident piece in many ways, for all it's softly, softly production. But this beauty has a deadly lure...or perhaps more accurately, a deadly lull. Indeed 'Paradise is a very 'visual' piece of music indeed, and replies heavily upon it's own inner laws for success, these are to a certain extent, technical in nature, and down to the artists skill in production movement, dynamics and instrumentation...but far more importantly, they are a result of the [i]empathic thought[/i] behind the track. We see what Wendi sees! we view the world as it is written, though her line of sight. 'Paradise' deals with (in retrospect very frank and vocal terms) the ghastly trauma encapsulated within the tsunami incident. I feel that, this bold, not quite-but-almost -soothing piece of music strikes a terrible and poignant chord in relation to the actual theme...because it [i]is[/i] the calm before the storm! It's a snapshot paradise, viewed through a retreating lens, never to be recaptured...because we know full well that everything is about to be washed away, and things can never be the same again. With this in mind, the relentlessly minor keys, and the solemn horns create a forward musical march toward a terrible and bitter conclusion.
It's this very factor that creates the uneasy counter-refrain within the wash of soothing horns, flute and spectral percussion. This secondary theme is generally more felt than actually heard, but it's there all the same, and it is like thunderheads upon a horizon. This awareness of the temporary beauty; and the need to [i]describe[/i] in musical pictures, that resemble the frames of a photograph; makes 'Paradise' (like much of Wendi's work) not particularly comfortable listening. Nor should it be. One yearns to enjoy the 'track' for it's tonal values...yet is confronted by the strange dichotomy of relationships that form the real world conclusion, and thus we are led against our own will into an uneasy confrontation between the comfortable world in which we inhabit, and the reality of the ghastly series of events that are 'outside' both our focus (save vicariously though the medium of television), and our own daily lives.
It would be easy at this stage to take the 'track' apart, to break it down, analyse, and ultimately anaethetise, looking for clues within the production, and the manner in which it was produced and mastered. I shall refrain from doing so on this occasion, because (as I have said many times in the past when dealing with emotion-led pieces from other artists such as Incidental Fusion) an object seen from a distance betrays only it's principle; thus some things are best viewed from a high level of detail, and can lose focus, and break into fractions upon close scrutiny. 'Paradise' is a an emotive piece of music, for the sake of coffee table culture, call it a 'mood piece'. When dealing with emotions, it is one of those rare occasions when it is best to be [i]reactive[/i], rather than [i]pro-active[/i]. Listen then....if you can bear the trauma...listen..but more importantly [i]feel[/i]. There is often a fine line (within a great deal of modern classical) between what constitutes background music, and what is forced upon our immediate consciousness by the artist. Wendi Nelson flatly refuses to be consigned to the background! She is IMMEDIATE in her delivery, and will not tolerate any loss of focus during the performance. And neither should we.
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