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Mark Van Hoen is an English musician that creates an excellent hybrid of refined, electronica with pop lyricism and sophisticated IDM-ambient-drone atmospheres.

His discography includes 10 albums (including EP’s) as Locust and 5 albums as Mark Van Hoen. Magnificent ‘Morning Light‘ is his seventh one.

Different from the earlier Locust albums that float into ambient—idm  spaces,’Morning Light‘ discovers new exciting music paths, more pop & vocal-oriented, presenting gorgeous vocalists Wendy Roberts, Holli Ashton, and Craig Bethell.

Your Selfish Ways‘, the opening track, is pulsing over a strange yet adhesive pop melody. ‘One Way Or Another‘ is an excellent ambient-pop song with gorgeous female vocals. ‘Folie‘ is a magnificent highlight with ethereal female vocals that vibrates into spectacular atmospheres. If someone asked me, “Tell me, which is the most beautiful song you ever heard?, I could answer easily “‘No-one In The World‘”. Using a magic sample from Carpenters‘ song ‘Hurting Each Other‘, Locust inspirited a song from heaven. The awesome, voice of Karen from Carpenters sings “No-one in the world ever had a love as sweet as my love… For nowhere in the world could there be a boy as true as you, love…”. The song trips into a deeply atmospheric vibrating drum’n’bass paradise over the haunting lyrics, that ends into symphonic movements with triumphant trumpets. ‘No-one In The World‘ is a hovering to bluest skies. A journey beyond the clouds, a mythical dreamscape than only heaven could have made. Song with titles like ‘Clouds At My Feet‘, ‘Summer Rain‘, ‘Morning Light‘, ‘The Girl With The Fairytale Dream‘ are just as atmospheric — exactly as their names reveal. The second phenomenon of the album is ‘Some Love Will Remain Unsaid‘. Locust create(s) a magnificent epic masterpiece, so atmospheric and imposing. It’s like Massive Attack meets This Mortal Coil. The impressive & symphonic finale leads to the end of the album with the Dead Can Dance-like ‘On The Horizon‘, an excellent song that ends ‘Morning Light‘ in an aspiration.

Full of mystical vibrations, impalpable intros, subtle, exquisite drum’n’bass soft echoes, ethereal atmospheres, spelling beats, great  melodies, ‘Morning Light‘ is not an ordinary music album; let’s call it a divine music wonder instead. It is the clear day after the rain, a deep breath, a gaze to the sky. It is one of these music secrets that we keep deep inside our heart…

Theodoros Rentesis