Richard Youngs slips out ‘Under Stellar Stream’

Pub date December 25, 2009
SectionNoise

Richard Youngs is a shaman of sorts — of the neodruid variety. With Under Stellar Stream, his latest solo collection of compositions, the English artist compels listeners to stop and pay heed to the small moments, the cycles of life, and the minimal music of repetition. His voice also sounds like it’s gained new strength: it’s clarion-like on numbers like the beautifully spacious “Cluster to a Star.” I keep returning to the second track, augmented with sparse bass and slowly ascending and unfolding organ: “All day Monday and Tuesday, the fuel of day, the fuel of day. All day Monday and Tuesday, the machine of time, the machine of time,” he intones, effectively conjuring the sacred lodged in the everyday.