The perhaps most interesting new age music project around is Eric Mouquet’s Deep Projects.

Mr. Mouquet, the Deep Forest veteran, last year released the magnificent album Deep Brasil (review here), which gave new life to the no. 1 hit Sweet Lullaby and contained several new favorites as well. No wonder it was voted one of the best new age albums of 2008.

And now to some breaking news; the next installment in the project, Deep Africa, will be released in April! Little is known about the new album – but it will for sure be yet another fine ethnic fusion release from Eric Mouquet.

The web page deep-projects.com has received a face lift. The black background is gone, replaced by a fading blue color. As of now, the music shop and the blog are down – but visitors get a nice album art presentation of earlier music projects by Eric Mouquet.

2010 is looking out to be a great year for Deep Projects/Deep Forest fans! An album called Deep China will be released at a later date.

Back in the jungle: Music can take you places far far away by just pressing the play button. The new album from Eric Mouquet of Deep Forest is a good example of this; it is like a one way ticket to the Amazonas. In a way it is the first return to the style of Deep Forest’s ground breaking album titled Deep Forest – with the smash hit Sweet Lullaby – since Deep Forest’s more recent albums didn’t focus directly on the forest and jungle, but more “open spaces” in Eastern Europe (Boheme), South America (Comparsa) and the Pacific (Pacifique, of course). But with Deep Brasil Eric Mouquet takes us into the warm and damp forest once more, to experience the nature and the people. And wow, what a journey it is!

The album is formed by the vocals of Flávio Dell’Isola and Michel Villain, perhaps making Deep Brasil more of a world album than a new age album. But I feel that the vocals make the album more authentic. And yes, there are plenty of typical new age samples here. Remember that Deep Forest almost invented this kind of sample use. And Eric Mouquet is still the king in this respect.

Deep Brazil consists of 14 songs, 55 minutes and 44 seconds all together. The opening track, Amazonia, is simply incredible. The opening synth, the rich pads and forest sounds are a perfect mix. It is as good as Deep Forest ever was. Flávio Dell’Isola’s vocal is great here, and the child voice samples in the end are really tasteful. And the piano at the very end, which perhaps can be called this album’s theme, is sooo beautiful. Track 2, Terra de Indio part one, is a world song with a nice vocal. You can hear the trademark of Deep Forest during the first 10 seconds of the song, and in the end. Track 3, Fazenda, starts with an intense but nice reverb effect. Again the vocals are good, and the arrangement is also first class. There are some happy conversation samples in the end.

Track 4 is titled Cedu do Brasil is also a very nice song, with a powerful melody. Africa Brasil, track 5, is fast and playful. The accordion has almost a Lambada-like feel to it. The African women singing in the background is a good effect, giving life to the African aspects of the song. Track 6, Minas Nascimento, and track 7, Pe De Flor, is more world style. Again the vocal is fantastic.

The songs Goiano, Terra De Indio part 2 and Cerradao (track 8, 9 and 10) are as good as any Deep Forest songs ever was, both in sound and melody. Cerradao contains a cacophony of blowing instruments in the end, which is kinda intense but nice.

And then, lo and behold, the moment we all have been waiting for: Sweet Lullaby Brazilian version! (track 12) I must confess that this was the first song I played when I got the album. The arrangement is light and soothing, like a real lullaby. The synths in the beginning are just right, and the following piano and guitar part is soft jazz at its best. The well known Sweet Lullaby theme has also made a comeback, fresh as a rain drop on a jungle leaf. Wow!

Track 13, Virtual Forest, is the only instrumental track on the album (well, almost instrumental. There are some whisperings here). The intro is a little bit eerie, but that’s ok; all deep forests can be spooky sometimes. But then the album’s piano theme is back, more beautiful than ever.

The last track, Pimenta Do Tempero, is light and a very good completion of the album. All in all Deep Brasil is an incredible album. At the end of the year I will not be surprised to find this album on my top 5 list of 2008. Perhaps at the very top. If I get out of the Brazilian jungle before the new year, that is.

//btfas

You can sample and buy the album on Deep Projects.