Marshall Styler Face In The Clouds CD

Marshall Styler's new age keyboard instrumental music "is designed to relax, heal and to uplift the body, mind, and soul," says a note on the back cover of his eighth solo album, A Face in the Clouds. "Perfect for massage, yoga, and the healing arts." More concretely, the note also says the music "is a blend of instrumental piano sounds and keyboard accompaniments." This is an accurate description. In the foreground of every one of the nine tracks, each running between four and seven minutes, is a single-note piano melody, played slowly and sometimes joined by a countermelody played on some electronic keyboard. The melodies are supported by a swirling bed of electronic instrumental sounds, for a spacy effect. Styler, a former rock musician, has not entirely lost his sense of pop song structures, however. On occasion, for example in the final track, "Walking Mansfield Dam," he comes up with a tune that could be developed into a pop or rock song with the proper arrangement and lyric, if he still had that inclination. ~ William Ruhlmann

"A Face In The Clouds" is Marshall's sixth album. Blending soft piano melodies with a rich orchestral background, this CD embraces the sound that New Age Reporter "solidly recommends". The title was inspired by a true story about a boy whose father died a hero during 9/11. On a flight to a retreat for the families of firefighters, the boy looked out the plane window and saw his dad's face in the clouds. His father was smiling at him and this is how the boy would remember him. Moved deeply by this story, Marshall composed the title track in one day. The rest of the album follows with Marshall's accustomed style of joy, warmth, and passion intertwined with images of his family and his beloved Austin home. Styler remarks, "my goal is to compose music that sounds simple and effortless, as well as moving and spiritual."