Synth Single Review: “The Child” by Thomas Barrandon

by Karl Magi

Thomas Barrandon’s “The Child” has a minimalist beginning with sparse drums slowly tapping before washing sounds carry a motif which embodies affection, gentle care and growth. The melody is delicate, underpinned by hypnotically pulsing notes drifting above a speeding synth pattern, as stuttering drums riffle over thick bass.

Rising with nobility, a glimmering melody touches me with a hopeful aura, balanced with snapping beats and a robotic voice repeating, “love, fear, hate , learn, doubt, fail, walk, run, fall, laugh, feel, cry." Invoking a sense of floating potential, the main theme shines like the evening star, cut by slicing drum beats and a spinning sonic filigree.

As the enigmatic melodic pattern grips me, I‘m flooded by the mingled emotions surrounding our growth as children into adults. A ringing melody, like starshine, transmits love and uncertainty in equal measure above the broken beats. A uniform radiance spills like the faint rays of early morning sun across the piece before it concludes.