electronic music pioneer Vangelis set to release new LP 'Rosetta'

August 19, 2016

Greek God of electronic, prog, and new age, the great Vangelis is set to release his first non-soundtrack studio album since 1998’s El Greco. Titled Rosetta, the album will hit the streets on September 23 via Decca Records. Through his music, Vangelis is capable of evoking visions of everything from ancient civilizations, mythology, science, and celestial exploration and Rosetta is very much in keeping with these themes.

This new recording is inspired by the Rosetta Mission, a trailblazing project by the European Space Agency (ESA) to land a probe on a comet for the first time in history. The release of the recording marks the culmination of the 12-year mission and is accompanied by incredible footage captured by the probe. The project came about after ESA astronaut André Kuipers, a long-standing fan of Vangelis, reached out to the composer whilst aboard the International Space Station. After sharing stories and experiences via a video call from the ISS, Vangelis was inspired to write ‘Rosetta’. The music is dedicated to everyone who made ESA’s ongoing Rosetta Mission possible, in particular extending the track ‘Rosetta Waltz’ as an expression of his appreciation to the mission team.

You may not know it by my contributions to BV, but your man Klaus is sort of an insane Vangelis fan, enjoying his tunes as far back as his late 60s psychedelic prog band Aphrodite’s Child (who, incidentally sold over 20 million albums). As a matter of fact, my iTunes library contains 159 Vangelis tunes clocking at a total of 12 hours and 9 minutes of aural bliss. His soundtrack works are the stuff of pure genius. Most of Blade Runner‘s appeal to me is how well Vangelis’ soundtrack works with Ridley Scott’s bleak, rainy, smokey, gritty, post-apocalyptic world. And you’d think that an electronic score for a movie set during the backdrop of the 1924 Olympics would be a preposterous mis-match. Yet somehow, Vangelis executed one of the most beautiful and apt soundscapes I can imagine for Chariots of Fire, and even got an Academy Award for his efforts. And this is just the tip of the Vangelis 32-album strong iceberg. His body of work is staggering and I’ll support this man’s music until I’m a pile of dead meat.

You can watch a teaser trailer for Rosetta, as well as experience some classic Vangelis soundscapes, below.