Richard Barbieri - Stranger Inside (2008)

Style: Art Rock/Dark Ambient

This is the latest solo album from Porcupine Tree's keyboardist Richard Barbieri, mastered by Steven Wilson.

It is a largely instrumental album with the overall mood being dreamy and textural. It features some cleverly produced voice samples - from Tim Bowness and Susan Barbieri – which adds even more depth to this dark and atmospheric work.

The first song, 'Cave', stands on its own as a more industrial sounding track, and makes way for the slower, calmer tracks that are to follow. It is clear that the sound of Porcupine Tree has influenced the sound on this album, more so than his previous works; tracks like 'All Fall Down' and 'Morphia' are good examples of this. These tracks feature a gorgeous double bass that pushes the music along, which is reminiscent of the kind of sound used on Porcupine Tree's 'Recordings' album.

This is the sort of album which gets better every time you listen to it. The textures, and the clever use of sampling, creates a rich soundscape that listeners will no doubt hear something new each time.

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