It was just a matter of time before Sequential Point and Die Stadt would cross their paths once more. They already had, in 2008, when they worked together on an EP titled Expoaqua. Both bands' musical styles move within the same parameters, Die Stadt tending more towards ambient and Sequential Point more confortable taking lessons from the Berlin School of Electronic Music. And, although Sequential Point's career has stepped forward in quality with the release of Back to zero, they still allow themselves to experiment (and enjoy) with music, and share the results.
This Sessions is precisely one of those experiments. Played in Sequential Point's studio in the Canary Islands (Spain), it consists of three themes, each one registered in one take and presented without post-edition. The first two parts are, besides, the result of improvisation.
The long Part 1 is pure ambient: it flows slowly and it is an evocative and meditative piece. There's probably a slightly bigger influence of Die Stadt's style here. Synthesizers spread out a dreamy landscape of the mind, sprinkled with shiny effects and deep pads, that will easily take the listener into the unexplored territories of subconscious.
In Part 2, Sequential Point takes the improvisation to its field: the track opens majesticly and slowly a subtle and hypnotic rythm appears. Sequences come short after, interweaving and getting more complex and richer. It is easy to note Tangerine Dream's influence in the way the improvisation evolves, with a more melodic and upbeat tone than 'Part 1'.
The third piece is an instrumental version of 'Forest fire', a theme included in Sequential Point's album Back to zero, but re-recorded here with Die Stadt's involvement. The introduction is longer, with an interesting atmosphere before the well known chords from the original theme appear. The voice is gone, but pads were added and strengthened, giving the theme a less ominous mood than the original, and making it more suitable with the preceding ambient pieces.
Although this album is an experiment, just an exercise, however, or maybe just because of its genesis, the result is even more interesting, besides a raw talent show. There were actually two recording sessions in August 2013. However, Sessions includes only the recordings of the second one; the first remains unpublished.
