The Path to Dreams – Little Meister’s (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

So much music today is made according to pre-determined plans, its form and function often guided by considerations such as market forces and the fickle winds of fad and fashion. You could argue that such music is made for pretty cynical reasons and to fit the shape of an existing hole in the marketplace.

This is why the music made by Little Meister’s is so refreshing, being that it is based on in-the-now improvisations, the music going where mood and moment take it, subject to the less tangible ebbs and flows of unseen forces and heading for unplanned, or at least loosely sketched out, sonic destinations.

While instrumental piano music might not have the pulling power of your average pop or rock song, in terms of honesty and integrity, it leaves such competition standing.

As is usually the way, “The Path To Dreams” is a spacious and subtle affair, arrays of delicate piano lines rising and falling at the composer’s command, capturing atmosphere and anticipation within its sonic pull. And, with only the title to guide us, we are swept along in its flow, imagining perhaps a literal journey or a path through life that leads to that which is most desired. The great thing about such music, something Little Meister’s revels in is that there is no lyrical component to make you draw apparent conclusions, instead letting the music conjure and corral our thoughts but leaving enough space for each listener’s sonic journey to take its unique form and arrive at its own unique conclusions.

Although I mentioned that such music might not fit with more mainstream music tastes, the numbers still back up the fact that there is a strong market for what Little Meister’s does. With 1400 likes on Spotify and 5000 monthly listeners, it is clear that those gatekeepers of the pop world, those movers and shakers of the mainstream, have some stiff competition to be found in more discerning and more sophisticated musical quarters. And for that, I am profoundly happy.