Jeff Rona – ‘PROJECTOR’ (album stream) (premiere)

Since the early 1990s, Jeff Rona has been known for his thrilling and atmospheric compositions across the media spectrum. Whether you judge his artistry by his contributions to film, television, or gaming, Rona has left a substantial mark with the likes of Sharkwater, Phantom, and God of War III under his belt.

The acclaimed Californian composer‘s latest project is a personal affair in the form of his solo venture, PROJECTOR. The LP is the result of Rona’s search for sound effects, which were then distorted into ambient strands of music that made up a melodic, harmonic whole. From there, he and a team of musicians got to work on layering all manner of instruments on top of the atmospheric world Rona had created, including guitars, cellos, piano, and more. In this sense, the compositions present on the album are equal parts organic and synthetic.

The experimental nature of Rona’s work on PROJECTOR make for a scintillating listen from start to finish. The “equal parts organic and synthetic” line extends far beyond the actual composition of each piece, deep into to the undeniable soul of each track laid down.

There is something foreign, something unusual about each piece that makes them stand alone as strange and even unnerving at times, but never enough to keep you from listening. It may be that there is a particular heart in the great lengths at which Rona went to work on each particular composition that bleeds into his work, but it feels like something even more than that. PROJECTOR is as utterly bizarre as it is heartfelt and sincere, and in this unique blend, listeners may well feel as if they’ve been transported to a place between dreams and reality while giving this ethereal record their ear.