Melvin Tsui, The Hero’s Journey Act 3: Return Review
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Melvin Tsui is a cinematic composer based in Sydney Australia. Tsui studied and performed as a pianist in his teenage years and moved to composing. He composes in a wide variety of musical styles but has turned his focus to cinematic writing and soundscapes. Tsuis explains, “Growing up, I was constantly exposed to films of all genres. The ones that stuck with me the most were the films by Studio Ghibli. Films such as Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro and Howl’s Moving Castle. They had amazing soundtracks and were the key factors driving me towards film composition. Joe Hisaishi heavily impacted my musical style along with Thomas Bergersen and companies like Audiomachine.” Those influences has given Tsui an ear for crafting grand/epic orchestral compositions. Combined with his experience in orchestrating, Tsui is not afraid of a challenge. He is releasing his final album of his epic cinematic music this in a trilogy. The final album is titled, The Hero’s Journey Act 3: Return. This albums theme is combining uplifting and inspiring sounds with orchestral battle elements. The albums six tracks create a sonic visual of John Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey theory. Each track representing a single stage, in which Campbell describes as turning points for a Hero’s development.
Positives:
Tsui’s compositions have organic sounds and colors. His sense of musical drama is excellent, and he channels that energy into memorable themes.
Bottom Line:
Tsui’s final instalment in his trilogy of albums based on the evolution of a hero is titled, The Hero's Journey Act 3: Return. The compositions make use of interesting layering of musical parts that build to create the various harmonic and melodic movements. Ethereal voices and full string sounds build around the piano and percussion. Each tune has a building overall shape that makes for a listening experience that sounds like a musical journey. Tsui creates sections of tension and release that also build the drama. The compositions use a lot of ostinatos to layer upon, which also helps create the building sound and motion. Tsui’s sounds are organic and he does use some EDM techniques from time to time, always in a musical manner that makes sense within the melody and flow of the tune. The Hero's Journey Act 3: Return is a solid neo-classical/epic orchestral album. The album does feel like it is telling a musical story that is enjoyable, beautiful, and epic. That’s the short of it!