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By Bri Cannistraro
Special for The Squall
Who says music needs words to be amazing? If you do, listen to the Lindsey Stirling album by, well, Lindsey Stirling.
She is a magnificent violinist with skill far that she puts into songs that no one could match even if they tried. She integrates other instruments into her work but her violin is what does the most amazing with it.
As she moves her fingers and bow across her wooden instrument, I couldn’t help but move with her as if I were stroking violin strings with a bow myself, or like a conductor directing the tunes of the piece of music that they instructed their band or orchestra to play along. Each piece of hers in this album was unique in its own way, but kept to her unique style of playing at the same time.
“Transcendence” was one of my favorites. It made me feel as if I was transcending who I was. It made my heart fly with the song as I listened to its gentle, yet fast music that created something beyond ordinary. Something that no one but a skilled composer and musician could create on their own.
“Elements” is another amazing piece. With the drums and other instruments behind the violin, my mind was separated from my normal confines of the Earth and brought me to my mind of which your internal elements shine. The drums like earthen rocks, the violin Lindsey played like water waving across the oceanic plane. The background synthesizer reminded me of fire blowing in the winds. It really took me out of the building and into the elements of nature.
Following these two in my favorite spots of the album, “Shadows” was one of the songs that gave me a sense of mystery. My heart seemed to search for the meaning of the song that needed no words to show Lindsey Stirling’s movements across the strings of her instrument.
All I could think of as she played this piece was seeing myself as a young, adventurous girl searching around in the darkness with dim lighting. In ways that she seemed like she was looking for something in the darkness. The song’s mysterious tunes made me want to hear it over and over, searching for the sounds in which would tell me what lurked in the shadows of this song.
However, “Spontaneous Me” and “Stars Align” did have some small things that made them less interesting than all the other pieces in the album. They both had a bit too many electronics. It overpowered the violin. “Stars Align” had vocals – sounds, not necessarily words – placed into the song here and there also driving you away from violin. The electronics distracted you from the heart and soul of Lindsey’s music: her violin.
Due to this, I didn’t as thoroughly enjoy them as I did the other musical pieces in the album. It could’ve been better, that is true; but the violin’s beautiful contribution into it still made the song an excellent piece to listen to.
There are always songs that may seem better if they had words. But take the words out and listen to the instruments behind the vocals. Perhaps you’ll hear something you could not before.
This album can prove that even if you do not have words, there is something beneath the instruments, a story waiting to be told by the listener. So listen to these pieces and feel the heart and find the story beneath them.
