The first time I sat up and took any real notice of the Sunshine Coast’s Tyson Illingworth was back in July 2007 when ITM gave away free downloads of his stunning Meet Me in Kyoto and I Like, You Like, which heralded an in impressive coming of age from the young bloke. Well documented national and international recognition subsequently followed, culminating in the unbelievable accolade of him taking the #1 position in the inthemix50 in 2008, as well as a main stage set at Trance Energy in Holland earlier this year. This month, Tydi releases his debut longplayer Look Closer on Generationext, so let’s… erm… look closer at the new release.

Tydi’s presentation opens with familiar sounding prog trance with the vocal number Closer Than My Breath, which zips along nicely with Keisha’s ice-cream lyrics massaging your inner ear. Everything’s OK backs up nicely, with a delicious male/female vocoder duet set against a ticking proggy score which is wonderfully paced with intelligent nods towards house, a conceit that’s later revisited with Mind Games. As the solid but standard Foolish chugs by, I am delighted to find that Meet Me in Kyoto has made the tracklist. Hands down Tyson’s best work to date, this one stands up to anything in the progressive trance genre over the last couple of years, and it is no surprise that Armin and Markus were all over it like a donkey on a waffle back in ‘07.

The beautifully melodic refrain wrings out over a wet padded beat, and it is with interest that I recognize the pattern in the inferior but clubbier Kopi Susi which follows, opening with a Hybrid-esque violin before swelling into a house paced trance tune which is festival ready from the off. The aforementioned I Like, You Like remains beautifully introspective despite the manifestation of a little radio polish since its original release, while Under The Stars passes by without note. The Balaeric strings are briefly revisited before the title track takes us East with sharp plinky piano hits and a thoughtful break.

While the first half of the album is solid with the odd spectacular moment, the second half is a more coherent group of tracks, introduced by the useful DJ tool Interlude as a sad classical piano flirts with electric synths and we are offered a glimpse into Tysons’s stream of consciousness. Amazing doesn’t really live up to it’s name, before the polished album edit of Russia! reminds us how good Tydi can be when he nails the happy medium between introspective prog and ball-tearing peaktime trance.

A robust trio closes, beginning with Is It Cold, one of my picks of the bunch. I adore the achingly sincere vocal refrain and the languid uplifting beats that stay on the lactose free side of trance while still being beautiful and optimistic. Expect DJ Shah to get his full money’s worth out of this one over the next few months. Let You Go is a poppy Generation Y take on Massive Attack’s Unfinished Sympathy, and is a nice change of pace and a commendable display of versatility before How Much Longer comes in with a beautifully drawn piano and violin, sounding like ATB on tranquilisers, a perfect way to end the album without resorting to an overtly minimal outro.

Look Closer is an absolute belter of a debut, and displays a musical maturity way beyond Tydi’s years. The album can be split into three categories: the sublime, the splendid and the solid, without once straying towards Fillertown. The disc is beautifully engineered with input and mixdowns from PoxyMusic production whiz Sameer Sengupta on several tracks, and there are some luxurious soundscapes and a diverse palette of tools on display. There is a fine balance between progressive introspection and dancefloor ready bangers for instant digestion as Tydi sits comfortably between Andy Moor, A&B and label boss Armin. Tyson’s musicality is prominent throughout, and while in months to come I may skip some tracks, there are several which I will cherish for years. The album is packaged beautifully, the cover art is a real standout and inside there are no less than six ways to catch up with Tydi online. At time of press, I checked in with Tydi’s twitter page to find the following tweet: “Boarding flight, want cookies” – and who can’t relate to that? Buy this CD with a smile and no regrets. On ya Tyson.

Check out the tracklisting…

1. Closer Than My Breath
2. Everything’s Ok
3. Foolish
4. Meet Me In Kyoto
5. Kopi Susu
6. I Like, You Like
7. Under The Stars
8. Look Closer
9. Interlude
10. Amazing
11. Russia!
12. Mind Games
13. Is It Cold?
14. Let You Go
15. How Much Longer

Wanna find out more about Tydi? Take a look at ITM’s ‘All About’ page for enough interviews, news, clips and DJ mixes to keep you busy for months to come.