Rob Simonsen, Coeur Review

Classical

Rob Simonsen, Coeur Review

rob-simonsen-staccatofy-cd

Connect with Rob Simonsen: Facebook | Instagram

Rob Simonsen is an American film composer, musician, and music producer. Simonsen is well-known for his powerful storytelling within his compositions. Amongst a new wave of composers making an impact in the industry, Simonsen developed under the mentorship of Mychael Danna. The longtime collaborators scored films including Marc Webb’s indie hit (500) Days of Summer; and Simonsen provided additional music for others, including Bennett Miller’s Moneyball and Ang Lee’s Life of Pi, which won four Academy Awards including Best Original Score. Working independently, he garnered two 2013 World Soundtrack Academy Award nominations for two Sundance hits: James Ponsoldt’s The Spectacular Nowand Nat Faxon and Jim Rash’s The Way, Way Back. That same year, he scored the global ad launch for Apple’s iPhone 5 and provided the iconic piano music for their “Everyday” campaign. Recent projects include the comedy The Master Cleanse (starring Johnny Galecki and Anjelica Huston), Roland Emmerich’s political drama Stonewall and the Weinstein Company’s Burnt starring Bradley Cooper, Uma Thurman and Sienna Miller.  Simonsen is releasing his long-awaited solo debut RÊVERIES, with a September 6th release date on Sony Music Masterworks. The announcement of the album comes along with the new video for the album track “Coeur,” which was directed by Simonsen.

amazon

Positives:

Cinematic musical drama at its best.

Bottom Line:

Simonsen is the founder of The Echo Society, a Los Angeles-based non-profit artist collective. Surrounding himself with a network of like-minded artists, he founded it in order to connect, inspire, challenge and enrich the creative community in Los Angeles by sponsoring live, professional sonic/visual performances and offering immersive and interactive audience experiences. With RÊVERIES he is stepping out on Sony Music Masterworks with that same passion and originality that The Echo Society has been creating for years. "Coeur" opens with a steadily pulsed chordal figure on the piano. Simonsen’s harmonic movement is haunting and flowing, the theme is building, as the inner voices move to provide tension and release. The pulse has shits that add to the suspense and mystery. The use of electronic sounds are tasteful and organic. The sound of a wood flute adds to the ambiance. For the second half of the composition, the strings add a sense of development and further tell the story. The accompanying video is just as compelling and matches the music’s mood and energy. A wonderful foreshadowing of the music still to come on RÊVERIES. That’s the short of it!

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.