New Age Music Reviews: Samer Fanek

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Contemporary Instrumental Review: Samer Fanek-Call of the Desert

Release Date: April 30, 2022

Label: Independent

I have witnessed growth and maturation with each release I have had the pleasure to listen to from Samer Fanek. With Call of the Desert, this young and vibrant pianist reaches back to his roots and creates an astonishing array of tracks.

Samer’s music is very cinematic and so vital to the core of his message. He wants to go back to the Middle East and perform this music. His homeland of Jordan inspired this music and longing to go back there. Such inspiration and beauty lie within the heart of every human. It comes from the heart to the fingers through the piano.

I felt the honesty of this music, and the excitement that gave me chills from the start. “Call of the Desert - Part I” brings you to Jordan within seconds. It gets more interesting musically with lovely orchestrations to accentuate the elegant piano playing from that point on.

“Into The Sun” is as picturesque as the cover art. However, the sun is going down to relieve those people from the intense desert heat. At the end of the journey is a piano and palm tree off to the side. Is this a mirage for those weary travelers? I think not. The music is convincing, and you are there right in the middle of that scenery created by Samer’s music.

Call of the Desert is Samer’s most inspired and ambitious work. The equation is simple; home is where the heart is. It will be good for everyone to hear this music. I know here in the U.S. that a different picture is painted of the Middle East thanks to the media and social platforms. Every home and country has its unique beauty to its inhabitants. With this music, perhaps we all can see that more clearly. We can take the first exit down the right road as we cast aside any preconceived ideas or thoughts pushed onto us 24/7. Samer can be our guiding light to a world we can only imagine in our minds. He knows through his past experiences what Jordan is and what it means to his people. With that knowledge and heartfelt expression, he conveys it all beautifully.

Tracks like “The Old Arabic Shop” are reflective and have a sweetness. And indeed, through the eyes of the beholder and his memories, we can envision what he remembers. “Pleading to You” is full of emotion, and the track title could mean many things. I know that the music sounds like it asks you to listen and absorb the sounds and colors of a world far away from where you sit now. Samer brings it all to life instantaneously through his music.

“Desert Rush” is full of movement and drama as you take the arduous journey over the unknown desert landscape. The excitement is a rush of adrenaline you have never experienced before.

The recording ends dramatically with “Call of the Desert - Part II,” as Samer’s gentle touch lends a sublime beauty to some masterful keyboard magic that you just enjoyed. I know this would sound so amazing on vinyl LP. It was so consuming as I listened to it all. I felt like I was in a storybook about a land I did not know. It does not seem so far away after listening to Call of the Desert anymore.

Capturing another country’s atmosphere and a young man’s memories inside the music is an outstanding achievement. In this excellent release, Samer Fanek has recreated everything about Jordan in his heart and mind. It will capture your imagination, I promise.

Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck-New Age Music Reviews Founder
April 11, 2022

Tracks:

01. Call of the Desert - Part I
02. Nighttime Celebrations
03. Where Did the Time Go?
04. Into the Sun
05. The Old Arabic Shop
06. Dramatic Encounters
07. Mediterranean Moments
08. Pleading to You
09. Desert Rush
10. Call of the Desert - Part II

Contemporary Instrumental Review: Samer Fanek- Polarized

Release Date: December 2, 2020

Label: Independent

Website

Samer Fanek is one of those solo artists that you are happy to see release another album. The sooner the better as far as I am concerned. This music is a reminder that life is a daily process of learning and the music is here to help us heal and move on to the next phase of that experience called life.

Previously I had the pleasure of covering Guide Me and Wishful Thinking. Knowing how much I enjoyed those two releases gave me plenty of reason to anticipate that Polarized would be equal or better than its predecessors. As I would soon find out, I would have every reason to believe that. The album was created and recorded in Samer’s home studio and mixed and mastered by Miklos Malek.

Samer has once again established himself as a serious solo artist that knows how to put together his music, relying on his talent to play the main instrument, the piano, and other keyboards, to create all the sounds you will hear on this recording. It is amazing all the sounds one keyboard can produce these days, basically an entire range to make your music sound like a full band rather than one talented and clever instrumentalist producing everything.

To give you some insight into the thought process that went into this recording Samer commented: The album is titled Polarized, referring to the sometimes sharp contrast/polarization between our highs and lows as we go through different events in life. You can hopefully hear the ups and downs unfolding with the songs and their titles as the album progresses.

When you listen to this music your top of mind should be the human condition and all the ups and downs, we can feel, sometimes several within one 24-hour period. Samer makes it known that he is just like everyone else except for sending his message and the tide of emotions through his fingers. I can relate in total to this music. It pushes you to feel the music then translate it with an open mind and heart. In other words, be as honest and pure as the music you will be hearing, and then you can take an interesting voyage along with the presenting artist.

“Tides” is a wonderful opening track. Its sweeping and cinematic beauty gives you pause then the wonder and excitement of the music take hold. You can tell Samer was feeling complete joy on the track. Then on the other side of life and its ever-changing emotions and thought patterns, the softer “Starting Over” is reflective and purposeful yet the beauty held within is something to behold and cherish. With those thoughts of a fresh start, the message is quiet but effective, then you are ready to step forward into the future. “Some Days Are Cloudy” gives you a reminder that life is not perfect but there are always the miracles of nature at work to create “Raindrops” that give our land and waterways essential life and growth. Without the clouds, there can be no rain, and once the rain is through the next day can be sunny and bright with hope and positivity. In all of this, if you listen closely to the music and pay attention to the track titles, you will see all of the emotion, learning, and gratitude, and the flow of life found in every track.

When you hear the fantastic symphony of “Life Goes On,” and how it embraces everything then jumps back into this thing called life without hesitation, the melodies of the music will carry you. Hope and inspiration are the intents here, the alternative is to give up and not live at all, not a very good choice!

Polarized is realistic and true to the heart of one artist by the name of Samer Fanek. His message comes through very clear and his musicianship is exquisite and as heartfelt as one artist could convey within a recording of contemporary instrumental songs. Life does not have to be two steps forward and one step back but sometimes that is the path we have to take to get to the other side and see the bright shining light at the end of the tunnel.

Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck-New Age Music Reviews
November 29, 2020

Track List:
01. Tides
02. Do You Remember?
03. Broken Dreams
04. Life Can Be Beautiful
05. Starting Over
06. Some Days Are Cloudy
07. Raindrop
08. Dearest of All
09. Life Goes On
10. Just Like the Wind
11. Wishful Thinking (Piano Solo)

Classical-New Age Review: Samer Fanek-Guide Me

Release Date: December 11, 2018

Label: Independent

Website

Samer Fanek is a talented keyboard player. I covered his debut WishfulThinking two years ago. I gave it a 5-star rating and I have no reason to believe things would be different with his new offering Guide Me. This is an instrumental recording filled with classical and contemporary music with a new age feel.

According to the artist, the first track “Grand Opening,” is intended to be exactly what it says it is. The curtain opener is an exciting burst of colors and energy that has you envisioning a scene in an action movie or an emotional still picture with a soundtrack to make it come alive. It is an amazing song but it does not set the tone for the album that most opening tracks do because of the eclectic nature of the overall presentation. “Chasing Time” is similar to the high level of energy and general pace.

What you will discover while listening are different moods, a story being told through the fingers and ivory keys. There is no doubt that this music can move you and it is meant to. The changing tides of sound and textures are a credit to Samer’s characteristic creativity and tastefulness. It can give the astute listener an opportunity to step outside any sort of emotional bubble one may feel trapped in.

An interesting point is the artist spent the last two years dealing with his own life and through the music found a path to enlightenment…a point of letting go and allowing himself to walk through the door of change and renewal. This is what Samer’s music can do for anyone. The first step is hitting play and letting the music encapsulate your surroundings and then changing your thought process. That is a monumental change for anyone feeling stress, distraught or just sad and lonely. If you have heard anyone say “I can be in a room with 300 people and feel alone,” then that gives you an idea of the level of pain one individual could be feeling. I think the key is to own whatever it is you are feeling at the moment then be ready to let go and move on with the help of the music.

Guide Me is an extraordinary musical achievement that will give listeners the occasion to feel what the artist is feeling and what part they may be playing in the story. Sometimes, for me, it feels like I take on my own part in the story and get this flood of feelings and emotions listening to this music, and then any isolation I may be feeling just slips away. On the positive side of the coin, there is a necessary solitude that I enjoy. It recharges my inner batteries and gives my soul a shot of light and hopefulness. It may sound complicated to some folks but it certainly works for my listening experience.

As the music guided Samer it will guide you to another space and time with a mindset that can give you a healing internally that you will come to expect from this music. I had set the bar very high for Samer on his sophomore release and he came through with another instrumental masterpiece.

Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck

December 10, 2018

Founder of:

New Age Music Reviews

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Review Provided By New Age Music Reviews

Tracks:
01. Grand Opening
02. Long Time Ago
03. Newborn
04. Now You See
05. Guide Me
06. Guardian
07. Before Dawn
08. Chasing Time
09. For Lila
10. Sense of Purpose
11. Back to Hometown

Instrumental New Age/Classical: Samer Fanek-Wishful Thinking

Release Date: July 22, 2016

Label: Independent

Website

Samer Fanek’s first release Wishful Thinking was just released a few weeks ago. It is with great pleasure I introduce this talented young pianist to an audience eager to hear an emerging talent playing instrumental new age music with a definitive classical influence.

Just as his website indicates, Samer's compositions blend the piano and orchestral instruments with the more contemporary, including synthesizers, rock and ethnic instruments. He cites Yanni and others as an influence and you will most certainly hear that panoramic and cinematic sound as the curtain opens on this ambitious recording.

The title track engages you right away providing a marvelous introduction to Samer’s sound. “Freefall” is exciting track filled with keyboards and orchestrations. When you look at the cover of this CD it projects simplicity however this music is far from that. It is definitely a “Freefall” into a wall of sound and oh so beautiful.

If you are “Ready to Go” this track is a whirling dervish of textured keyboards and colorful nuances. It is tastefully done as he presents it with a forcefulness to push the music out but with a determination and grace that only an accomplished keyboard maestro can provide.

To make sure you see all the emotions and a different side of his musical interpretations he creates a touch of divine inspiration with tracks like “Fantasy.” Picture yourself floating up to the heavens as the other spiritual beings come down to greet you and carry you away. The song creates a nice floating sensation that made me feel connected and spiritual thus making it easy for my own interpretation of the track.

You have to be a true visionary to create instrumental music so full of life and emotion. Samer Fanek has recorded a superlative debut and I would expect that he will be recognized in short order. I think the folks in not only in the music industry but in films need to take notice of this young man’s talent. It is a nice relaxing experience to hear this music but I sure can hear it playing as a soundtrack in a movie as well. So the options are endless for music such as this.

The anticipation for more great music already begins once the CD is finished playing. For now you will have to hit play again until he returns with a second installment of instrumental bliss.

5/5 Stars

Key Tracks: Freefall, Ready to Go, Fantasy

Tracks:
01. Wishful Thinking
02. Universe
03. Freefall
04. Fairytale
05. Lost Waltz
06. Ready to Go
07. Left Behind
08. Fantasy
09. Desperation
10. Escape
11. Remember Me
12. Exhibition
13. Finding Closure

Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck

Founder of:

New Age Music Reviews

Rate The Tracks

August 5, 2016

Review Provided By New Age Music Reviews