He started this summer with the third wave of his Magic Island mix series – his ‘see-you-soon’ musical-message to Balearically-minded people everywhere. The compilation prefaced one of the most incredible summer seasons of Roger’s career – one that has seen him take his unique, spellbinding LIVE show to all four corners of the globe – witnessed by tens of thousands of people along the way.
This October he’ll book-end it with his ‘closing party’, the last sunset stroke of his 2010 summer… Under his most famous alias, Shah delivers Sunlounger’s third artist album. The man to whom summer is as much an obsession as it is a season will again enthral with super-warm pads & super-chilled riffs; ones that will create a fresco of new music, infused & influenced, at every turn, by the sun.
‘Beach Side’s start-point – both spiritual and actual – is Salinas, Ibiza, where Roger captured the ambient sounds, the lapping waves and his own muted musings for the title track. Back in the studio the drums and looping lamenting guitar refrains were brought in and they provide the perfect introduction to ‘A Beach Side’s musical M.O.
Back in 2008 Roger & vocalist Zara Taylor recorded ‘Lost’ – a track that proved to be the most popular trance track of that year (as voted for by the listeners of A State Of Trance). Both producer and vocalist felt that ‘the story’ merited a concluding part and recorded ‘Found’. Already a single in its own right it adds to the album’s indolent complexion.
Vocalists have played a key role in of the first two Sunlounger albums and that naturally enough that continues with pt.3. On ‘Beautiful Night’ Antonia Lucas’ vocoded lyrics and harmonies are interspersed by radiating synths and pads sequences, whilst on ‘Life’ Lorilee’s ebullient vocals soar high. After ‘Don’t Wake Me Up’, their collective club-smash, Inger Hansen’s voice became a firm favourite of Roger’s and its elegiac-ally tinged tones can be heard again on ‘Breaking Waves’.
As much as the album is recorded with a more meditative view of the trance genre, there are a few tracks that, in their original forms, edge their way off the sands and head in the direction of the clubs. With its samba sounds & stabby uplifting synthology, ‘Son of a Beach’ is a sure-fire foot mover and ‘Summer Escape’s strong, stirring lead-line is likely to engender the same effect in the arms ept! ‘Trademark White’ meanwhile (a reference to Shah’s own on-stage persona) holds off on some of the traditional vibrant Sunlounging percussion to give a more stripped-down musical perspective.
As with the first two albums, ‘The Beach Side of Life’ is an LP for those who – like Roger – see beauty in live instrumentation, languid sounds & lower-end tempos. New to pt.3’s musical make-up are imaginative emerging world music themes & purpose-captured ambient effect-ology. These all coalesce into a CD that creates a whole new art of chill.
01. The Beach Side Of Life
02. Found (feat. Zara Taylor)
03. Coastline
04. Breaking Waves (feat. Inger Hansen)
05. Kuta Beach
06. Beautiful Night (feat. Antonia Lucas)
07. Summer Escape
08. Trademark White
09. Life (feat. Lorilee)
10. Acapulco Waves
11. Feels Like Heaven (feat. Zara Taylor)
12. Son Of A Beach
