Raphael Meleteas: Someone Else

It is September already, and the days arrive tinted by the fallen leaves' reds and yellows. Somehow, we are thrown back to late August, finally granted enough time to enjoy a cool drink and listen to the record, just like people used to in the pre-accelerationist era. On Raphael Meleteas's very brief debut LP, musical arrangements become moods, and these turn to tangible locations—a kaleidoscope of seasonal atmospheres captured in song.

Someone Else was put together as an analog calendar—one without built-in reminders and notifications. Instead of a typical few-day-long rush of recording sessions, the album congealed from January to June 2025, written and recorded piece by piece, beginning with the first rustle of leaves ("Doorbell"), and leaving off in the summer breeze ("The Sweet Enough"). Lush orchestral arrangements give off a sweeping cinematic feel of Henry Mancini and Quincy Jones ("Day Off"). Compositions furnish space. Congas and strings transport the listener to a romantic hacienda. With glockenspiel, we inhabit an alpine hut. Echoes of The Doobie Brothers and Christopher Cross are heard in the vocal forays, still reserving a sweet spot for Nick Drake.

This is a sophisticated album, in line with 1960's arrangers and their chamber pop students. Only two tracks are spun on a soft vocal thread. The majority of the record might seem instrumental, while, in fact, the crooner has been supplanted by flute or guitar. Lounge classics' arrangers employed a specific set of musical blueprints to create warm layered textures with muted trumpets and woodwinds, complemented by percussive sound baths, vibraphones, marimbas, and shakers. Meleteas does little to hide this trail of crumbs, marrying such solutions to the relaxed groove of 'yacht rock'—historically, located at a few decades' remove from Mancini, yet channeling his unobtrusive grandeur. While Mancini's arrangements varied from film to film, the Hollywood exotica of the 1950s would have inevitably rung false to the Greek composer's ear—these form a premise to build upon, rather than reproduce. From its cover artwork to the classics evoked in the liner notes, there is promise of a pleasant ride; thus, not every lounge orchestral gimmick is executed by the book. Extreme stereo pans would not serve the music in the same way they did for Syd Dale or Percy Faith. If anything, Meleteas aims for a new breed of exotica that feels as organic and evocative as his home recording journey allowed.

The stamps in Meleteas' musical passport—involved as a sideman since 2015—are equally important. These range from the funky groove of The Soul Peanuts, through keyboard contributions to the psychedelia of The Steams on Vile Wonders (Made of Stone Recordings, 2025), to performances alongside his brother Thomas—a scholar and oud master—on the latter's solo releases and various projects, e.g. Plexoudes (Self Produced, 2023). Naturally for a multi-instrumentalist, the album serves as a showcase of his varied musical tastes, with the love of baroque pop standing out against this vintage wallpaper.

The introductory "Doorbell" is a track almost lifted off The Mystic Moods Orchestra's One Stormy Night (Philips, 1966), the atmospheric classic on which pop tunes are augmented with the sound of rain. Replace rain with rustle to bring in September, and the cool of glockenspiel and bells subsides for the warmth of the hazy Moog, leading us into an outright tropicana: congas, double drums, sticks, and an ethereal flute. All this jostles to the rhythm of a double bass. It stays dreamy with the very intensity of 1950s movie soundtracks, expert at introducing the scene well before the image arrives. "January 3rd" is not as cool as expected, despite the percussive icicle pricks and the soft snowfall of the brushes. Neither is "Brushes, Strings" a February jaunt. Rather, it gives off an Ennio Morricone impression, rejuvenating his early 1970s work for giallo. Side A concludes with "Someone Else." The title track brings a bit of Crosby Stills & Nash's "Guinnevere" for its acoustic pensiveness, with lines like: "When someone tried to dive into your heart/Cause you look back on everything that makes you cry together." The other vocal presence, "May 19th," has that Eric Stewart vibe the 10CC veteran reclined into on Alan Parsons's Try Anything Once (Arista, 1993). In the meantime, "Three Afternoons" pass rapidly, hurried by the slightly swinging drumming and a two-note piano figure. Meleteas names his inspirations directly, thus nobody should cringe at the penultimate title. "Quincy's Spring" lives up to both the composer and the seasonal allegory. In such company, the closing "The Sweet Enough" radiates almost like a Supertramp song ("Easy Does It")—borrowing that tune's melody for a memory of moderate Summer.

Each time Autumn lurks around the corner, there is a pressing need to assemble a survival kit for the colder months. Raphael Meleteas' record will most likely be added to the collection, alongside David Sylvian's Gone to Earth (Virgin, 1986), The Clientele, and Andy Sheppard's Movements In Colour (ECM Records, 2009). Also, for all the Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel fans out there, Someone Else may stand as a majestically subtle solo debut—a wonderful LP to own and fortify yourself with, which hopefully bookends a lengthy and eclectic career ahead.