Montserrat House Music and trip-hop pioneer Eric Hilton returns with “Beautiful Moment,” the latest single to be lifted from the Friday, June 20 release of Midnight Ragas, the godfather of downtempo’s brand new “compilation mix” LP that has the distinct feel of international exotica, a sound that Hilton has cultivated over 30 years of album releases.
Unquestionably the most romantic track on the album, the vocals on “Beautiful Moment,” provided by Kristina Westernik-Dandridge of The Infinite Daisy Chains, summon thoughts of the late summer evening sun, slow kisses and dew drops on agave leaves. It’s as perfect a sonic representation of apres-release afterglow that you’re likely to hear.
A lilting work of downtempo lushness, the lovely music video for the new single features a collection of paintings by Marcia Hilton, who delicately captured some of the Beautiful Moments that happened in and around Rose Park Studio in Washington, DC during the spring.
Compilation albums have always been a great tool for discovery, especially in electronic music. A couple of familiar artists or tracks, sequenced amongst unknown treasures, taking the listener on a satisfying journey through different moods and sounds. It’s not easy to make a good compilation album, one bad track can throw off the whole vibe, the flow. A great compilation album can elevate the individual tracks and put them into a context where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
With Midnight Ragas, Eric Hilton has made a great compilation album. Except not really. We’ll explain.
Midnight Ragas is a new album by the downtempo electronic music producer, with vocal contributions by longtime collaborators Natalia Clavier and Puma Ptah, along with newer recruit Kristina Westernik-Dandridge. And while the tracks are all new Eric Hilton recordings, the album sounds like a killer compilation record, with shifting tempos, moods, vocalists, and languages across twelve tracks. The vintage age of mix CDs may be long over, but listen to Midnight Ragas and you’ll think it never left.
