A rare feat for a well-versed hand that helped shape an island’s electronic music scene and now DJs off a pedestal, Valeron’s 2022 album Aroma frames Greece’s diverse musical history through a contemporary lens and acts as a testament to the island’s current collaborative milieu – a dance between Mediterranean and Middle Eastern instruments, all acoustic and recorded live, with the hand floating from the native of Mykonos on mixers and synths.
The album is a passionate ode to the musical heritage of the Cyclades from a personal perspective, which will come as no surprise to Valeron’s admirers.
“There is nothing more beautiful than the sound of music and the aroma of its soul. To inhale is to capture, to experience– Valeron.
This idea has implications for the workings of the human mind, aroma being a word we coined to describe how we perceive our surroundings, with its roots in the late Latin for spice. We observe our environment and transmit relevant information to the brain through our senses. Is it possible that music has an aroma, or that the imagination perceives it that way?
The opening title track is a reworked traditional folk song from the island of Leros that explores unrequited love. Over the following tracks, this reflection on suffering is tempered by downtempo psychedelic soundscapes such as “Eliane” and “Noemawhich fit perfectly into Valeron’s discography of floor-fillers. throughout the album, embellishing each track with their own personal touches: other tech-tinged folk songs such as “Rebuilt“to a moving cover of Sting”Brittleand “Sezen Aksu”Istanbulthe album encourages Cretan lyre, clarinet, oud, guitar, bouzouki, kanun and kaval to follow a script that adheres to tradition while leaving ample room for playful instrumentation.
A devoted inhabitant of the island’s club scene, Valeron has had his residency as a DJ and his live band performed every Saturday at Scorpios Mykonos for several years. Aroma marks the debut album from in-house music label Scorpios and Valeron’s second release on the label following his January 2022 EP Aminta. Valéron – Aroma is now available via Scorpios Music: https://save-it.cc/scmusic/aroma
