Ayres is the third work of well-known and beloved Bostonian multi-instrumentalist Helios (aka Keith Kenniff) - very talented person, whose compositions can get to the very core of listener's feelings and dreams. It seems he knows well how to make his music deeply touchable and fill our souls with it, he conciliate our mind with the surrounding world and presents us precious minutes of relaxation...The prehistory of the album is very simple - after Eingya's release Keith was invited to give concerts in several European cities. The atmosphere of these concerts made him use the unusual for him musical element - his own voice. So that was the history of these 5 songs and 1 cover.
From the very beginning of the album we understand that Ayres is the continuation of the musician's previous work but now with the author's singing.
The so-called 'vocal experiment' provoked mixed points of view of various listeners. Personally I wouldn't say that Keith's voice is pleasant - lazy, sad singing and pronouncing of lyrics is rather ordinary thing heard by us for numerous times already. Using his voice Keith made his music less expressive.
But the main feature of Helios's creativity is still present - enveloping warmth and viscosity of sounds, while listening it feels like being muffled up into a warm, fluffy blanket. Very romantic and touching thing...
Well, we have 5 romantic, pleasant songs of the talented author. This music can be recommended to any listener despite various experiments with the sounding in tracks. The album's mood and music representation will immerse anybody into romantic melancholy and cast pleasant, light thoughts.
The album ends with the interesting cover-version for the song "In Heaven" from the film "Eraserhead" by the famous director-experimentalist David Lynch. Interesting representation with tragic outcome and calm, quiet ending.
Friendly speaking, this record left mixed feelings and impressions - somebody may think that he has gone to pieces and his next tracks will include lamentations and nothing else…Maybe the author should just change general mood of his compositions and surprise us by something brand new? Well, time will show...
- Type records