CHERISHED by Pranatricks

A gentle, homey atmosphere is inherent in every sound of the ‘Cherished’ album. Pranatricks reveals his voice and vocal abilities in each track, giving you peace and complete unity with the outside world.

The debut album shows very clearly the state of mind of Pranatricks. And you can hear it especially in the way he produced and mixed ‘Cherished’ – muted tones, spacious ambience, open guitar, follow the listener throughout the album. Pranatricks’ work on the sound should be mentioned separately, because thanks to the unusual sound he was able to turn each song into a small masterpiece. I know it’s banal, and surely someone has already written about it, but I am not afraid of platitudes, because our whole world is made of platitudes.

All these details emphasize the alienation, but that’s exactly how ‘Cherished’ is conceived and constructed. An album woven of symbols whose meanings are vague and ambiguous, lyrics that you can hardly understand, only to feel that amazing, unresolved, strong feeling – nostalgia. This album is a mirror of Pranatricks’ own destiny. He relies more on minimalism and human psychology than on expensive studio sound.

The first track ‘Running’ sets the tone and rhythm for the next 42 minutes. The album’s single and title track is rhythmic and insistent. However, it immediately introduces the listener to the unique sound of the artist, whose voice and way of singing can be easily distinguished from thousands of other voices. Remember the first feeling of weightlessness that the song ‘Running’ evokes. It will come over you many more times in completely different variations throughout the album.

In the track ‘Between The World’ the musician peppers his voice and adds a slight hoarseness. Ticklish sounds sweep through the echo of instruments, backing vocals and seemingly distant drums. Pranatricks clearly breaks the beat with a drum beat and keeps the listener grounded, not letting go of consciousness to dissolve completely in the melancholic haze of the track.

At first listen, the album may seem heavy: it’s slow and not dynamic, but as is always the case with great works, with repeated listens you notice things that you do not notice at first listen. The gloomy ‘Edge Of The Light’ misleads from the first seconds. Pranatricks changes direction and leads the sound into a deep space of minor harmony and abrupt awakening. The musician introduces part of the synthesizer, imitating the sound of bells, and then relies entirely on synth electronics.

Entering and diving into the music of Pranatricks will not blow you away. On the contrary, you feel an unprecedented lightness and ease. So, the track ‘Shades Of Your Light’ and ‘Rubber Trees’ is the most magical songs of the album. On ‘Baton Rouge’ and ‘Issaquah’ the artist pushes the backing vocals to the maximum. The second and third vocals sound on the same level with the main vocals, and this creates a sense of flight. The multi-voice gimmick adds spark to the acoustic sound.

The music of Pranatricks gives the feeling of belonging to a great story and an incomprehensible universe of the musician. ‘Cherished’ can be considered a real asset for the indie direction. The album is able to plunge listeners into the incredible depths of their own experiences and helps to find answers to rather complex philosophical questions. For this reason, this album won in our main nomination ‘Best Album of 2022’.

A great work that every indie music lover should listen to. Of course, not everyone is able to appreciate the work of Pranatricks, but high art has never been mass-produced, right?