Madeleine Cocolas - Ithaca [Someone Good Promo]

Put on the circuit via the Australian label Someone Good on May 8th, 2k20 is "Ithaca", the latest album crafted and created by Madeleine Cocolas which is described in the accompanying press release as '... an audio diary of sorts...' which stretches over the course of roughly 43 minutes and mainly is influenced by her return to her hometown of Brisbane after years of living abroad. This said, the eight tunes on this album are somewhat melancholia-inducing from the very first piano notes of the intimate opener "Across The Ocean, But Not Yet" onwards, a tune living up to the promise of soft Ambient tones and intertwined layers of dreamy piano melodies whereas the subsequent "A Promise" replaces piano with an inward looking take on calm, carefully plucked guitar strings and "Let's Talk About You" offers a beautiful array of sparkling Cosmic / Synth arrangements for the most positive moments in life whilst even introducing a sweet dancefloor twist for highly advanced clubbers out there. The subsequent "Past The Floodline" harks back to ultimate autumnal melancholia, "Circular" indulges in a hazy, blurred out, outerworldly Ambient mist atop a foundation of slow, irregular rhythms and strange tonal warpings before "A Basic Understanding" reminisces about the simplistic joy of lively melodic variations oftentimes employed by early Synth composers albeit without the comforting haze this tune provides as a blanketing sonic drapery whilst "The Heart Doesn't Lie (Except When It Does)" borders minimalistic (Neo)Classical composition techniques and the concluding cut "Return Home" waves goodbye in a most peaceful, comforting and ever caressing manner. File under: total relaxation.