Page 62 - Zone Magazine Issue 021

Albums - Dance
Albums // Compilations
Albums - Dance
Roger Shah - No Boundaries [Black Hole Recordings]
trance
Roger Shah is a man with a lot to say musically who has bags of studio energy so its not surprising that when he does get round to releasing an album he really goes for it.
With his latest endeavour ‘No Boundaries’ he has done just that and has come up with 30 brand new tracks that took him three years to record and comes out seven years after his last album release ‘Openminded’ which he put out in 2011. He hasn't rested on his laurels in between though as he has put out five mix compilations, a number of soundtracks and has recorded tracks under various aliases of which the most notable have been Sunlounger and High Noon At Salinas.
But even for a studioholic like Roger the album process does take a great deal of thought and time to write, produce and record especially when you bear in mind the amount of collaborations and guest vocalists that he has worked into this release. It would be fair to say that ‘No Boundaries’ has been a real labour of love for Roger but when you hear it you begin to understand why he made such an effort and how that effort has paid off as the end result is such a good one.
‘No Boundaries’ features an impressive ensemble of singers, songwriters and other musical partnerships. Moya Brennan, JES, Carla Werner, Natalie Gioia, Jennifer Rene and Susana are just some of the names that are involved and alongside them Roger has been rejoined by singers whose voices have become synonymous with his work. We see the return of regular Shah vocalists such as Yoav, LeiLani, Inger Hansen, Zara Taylor and Adrina Thorpe. He has also teamed up with some great producers, namely: Aly & Fila, Sied van Riel, Stoneface & Terminal, RAM and Feel.
When asked to comment on the album, Roger said: “my idea was to create a unique journey for the listener to take. Its production has certainly been that for me. Working on it over the longer time period has been an experience as different as it’s been hindsight revealing. When I listen to each individual song, I can really hear what I was going through whilst making it. It’s wonderful to now be able to experience them all together, collected in this album form.”
While listening to the album the first thing that you notice is how musical all the tracks are and although there is Trance DNA throughout, the album is so much more than a collection of 30 Trance anthems.The songs are very personal, sometimes poignant and heartfelt and you can tell that he put those three years to great use in creating this tour de force. The tracks are quirky in places but all have great emotion and big personalities and it is well worth a listen in full.
Connect: http://www.rogershah.net Words By Danny Slade
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