Harmonia

It sees him inhabit a remarkable & singular position in electronic music. Remaining anchored to its underground, he nonetheless enjoys the type of esteem typically reserved for the biggest trance stars of stage & studio. Notable by their cache of rarity, ‘Harmonia’ is just the fourth in Orkidea’s album line, throughout his near-¼ century of electronic music creation. 

Following previous long-players (‘Taika’ - 2003, ‘Metaverse’ - 2008 and ’20’ in 2011), the album continues to track the inspirations of a man who has himself gone on to influence numerous subsequent production generations.

Through collaboration, sonic reference, cover version and smartly subtle nuance, he intensely channels it all into ‘Harmonia’. Included are the Beatport #1 charting ‘Purity’, (per DJ Mag) the “trance-progressively pumping” ‘Revolution Industrielle’ and the “coolly modulating analogue synths” (MIXMAG) of ‘Slowmotion III’. It features collaborative works with Solarstone, Giuseppe Ottaviani, Activa, Lowland & others, and ‘Harmonia’ fully comprises 14 new Orkidea recordings.
Opening the Fin’s 4th opus is ‘My Sunset’, Hakanen’s cover of Chris Coco’s indolent chillout classic. Introducing notes and elements from Berlin’s neo trance sound, it transforms its ambience into a deeply galactic, prog-oriented number.

Referencing and riffing off the frequencies of early progressive-house, ‘Dreamer Of Dreams’ passages early Sasha & Digweed influences, brilliantly reframing them in a 21st century production context. That line is further extended with ‘Harmonia’s first vocal number. On ‘Neo Romance’, the ‘Heaven Scent’ trace of melodic uplift kinetically meets Ben Lord’s tones and Future Sound Of London-styled FX.

Stretching the album’s genealogy further back still, with ‘p:Machinery’, Orkidea realigns avant-garde group Propaganda’s mid-80s synth-pop classic with modern day floors. Building it up & out with the driving, tech style of Pryda and the peak time prog hooky-ness of Anjunadeep, he gives it a radically inventive update.

With Pure Trance at its core, on ‘North Star’, Giuseppe Ottaviani and Orkidea’s angle the trajectory up into the 140bpm regions. With the album’s climactic numbers, more psy-trance elements seize the centre-ground, as Orkidea and UK producer Activa fashion the equatorially humid coding of ‘Z21’. Programming more psy into its drums & percussion, the album’s title track injects a dash of Vangelis to its upper atmosphere, courtesy of Rutger Hauer’s fitting, closing monologue from Blade Runner.