We previously reviewed Haruomi Hosono's 50th anniversary since his first solo album. Now, in this entry, we will celebrate his friend Keigo Oyamada, who this year reaches the 30th anniversary of releasing music under the name of “Cornelius.”

Despite the long career of Cornelius, “Ethereal Essence” is just his sixth album release. This is easy to understand because this guy is always incredibly busy. The ex-Yellow Magic Orchestra guitarist has been collaborating for the last three decades with METAFIVE, Daigo Hanada, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and even participated as a session guitar player in acclaimed video game soundtracks.

Cornelius admits that this latest album is inspired by his long career as a musician, but his biggest two inspirations were his experiences as a member of The Yellow Magic Orchestra and the Yoko Ono Plastic Band. However, I need to say, from all of his works, this album is where I find it most difficult to find traces of his YMO past. His approach to melody is more moderate, but in terms of harmony and arrangement, he has refined his style.

The album is quite diverse. Some songs are based entirely on drones and short motifs, as in “Sketch for Spring,” based on lushly prolonged guitar bendings, or “Xanadu,” where the minimalist structure slowly increases in intensity. The different motifs are shredded in different sections that evolve independently of each other, and “Heaven is Waiting,” where the collection of short melodies feels like they float in their own reverbs.

There are other songs that feel minimalistic at the beginning but unfold in a seemingly never-ending development, like “Quantum Ghost,” which opens with an ostinato that slowly adds more and more notes in between.

“Step” and “Melting Moment” depart more firmly from this obstinate and minimalist structure to deliver contrasting forms and other kinds of emotions.

Then we have the weird pieces, the most Cornelius-esque tracks on the entire album: “Koko,” which is a transcription of a monotonous Japanese speaking voice. By transcription, I mean that Keigo added a piano note for every syllable of the speaker, similar to those Instagram trends of musicians “transcribing” memes to instruments. The other “weird” song is “Forbidden Apple,” where we literally hear recordings of someone biting an apple, accompanied by field recordings of birds chirping and shiny pads, evoking the sensation of eating an apple in paradise.

We have two tender vocal tracks, “Too Much Love for Sauna” and “Thatness and Thereness,” with beautiful pop harmonies and electronic orchestrations.

Finally, my personal favorite on the entire album, “Windmills of My Mind,” is the most melodic track. It features a portamento flute-like oscillator playing an unconventional yet delicious melody, accompanied by a melancholic piano. I have no words for how beautiful it is when the main theme re-enters with the oscillator doubled, finally reaching the gorgeous melodic cadence.

This album is an absolute journey, and because of its varied nature, I think it is suitable for all kinds of tastes.

You can visit Cornelius's official website here.

Author: Martín Cacho

Martín is a video game composer, producer and writer from Sonora, México.