Album Review: Leaning Toward Home by Holland Phillips

Composer and keyboardist Holland Phillips has released a total of seven albums over the past several years with his latest output, Leaning Toward Home, continuing along the synthesizer-based contemporary instrumental style of his previous releases. Comprised of eleven easy-going and optimistic compositions upon which the sun never sets, the album’s arrangements mostly move along at a mid-tempo pace, as Phillips serves-up convivial keyboard melodies amid gentle programmed beats and quasi-orchestration.

Two of the most enjoyable pieces to my ears are paired together – with “A Sip of Potion” being the first of these at the album’s halfway mark. Accentuating this sunny arrangement with glistening bell-like timbres, Phillips seemingly imbues it with the semblance of a vintage fantasy film. He likewise continues in this mode on my favorite piece, “Moving Forward”, wherein Phillips further delights us with a comparatively more reflective keyboard melody.

Perhaps taking a few queues from the successful works of Mannheim Steamroller, Phillips’s music is overall characterized by a distinctly 80s-era vibe that hasn’t changed much since he debuted on the music scene with his first album. Lightly treading along a comfortable course, Phillips may not be breaking new ground as a composer, but he does create harmoniously sentimental music intended to lift the spirits – and that, he certainly succeeds at! ~Candice Michelle

For more information please visit the artist's website. This album is also available at Amazon, Google Play, CD Baby and iTunes.