Music Notes -- Direction

Eddie Healy's Direction has emerged as one of my favorite recordings thus far this year, and I expect it to stay in my listening rotation for some time. Each crisply produced track was composed and adroitly performed by Healy himself, including duets, trios, and quartets as well as brilliant solo pieces. This is an album of sublime beauty and depth.

I am impressed with how nicely each song fits with others on this project. There is no drop is coherence when moving from a solo guitar work to a quartet. The three tunes composed for video games do not sound out of place among more "classical" pieces, a testament to Healy's compositional prowess and a demonstration that good music is at home anywhere. Yet each song is distinct and unique. Favorites include "Compulsion," "A Life of Consequence," "The Night Is A Rope," and the suite "The Path to Truth."

I don't know if it the titles or the tone of these works, but I find Direction to be quite spiritual. Many of the songs are reflective and/or majestic. There is a communion of sorts here, certainly between listener and the artist, but also between the music and the universe it brightens. Like some of the best instrumental music, these songs sound much like open prayers. This is not to say they are religious. They are better than that. Direction appeals not to our sense of belief or dogma, but to the oft neglected part of our souls, that is most awakened when we encounter beauty. This isn't pleasant music to augment meditation (though many pieces could be used as such), but instead music that causes one to pause, to stop what busies us and gather ourselves in.

You can listen to pieces from Direction and buy the album at ReverbNation