Each Measure Review: Skylark Vocal Ensemble

FEATURE

Of all the classical traditions, choral singing remains among the most enduring, and as one of the oldest forms of music, it has proven its capacity for weaving poignant narratives around big-picture themes through its built-in sense of community and humanity. The Skylark Vocal Ensemble perfectly encapsulates the philosophical potential of choral music on their album, “Shades of Blue: Choral Music of Mark Van Overmeire,” which explores profound themes through highly expressive music. The album was recorded and released in 2025 and is now available for streaming and downloads on Amazon Music, Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, and Tidal.

The music was written by Belgian-American composer Mark Van Overmeire, and he hand-picked the Grammy®-nominated Skylark Vocal Ensemble to bring his work to life. The end result is the stirring musical journey of soul’s search for itself. Van Overmeire’s compositions combine the lush harmonies and soaring melisma of traditional choral music with the inventive rhythms and ethereal qualities of its modern incarnations.

The title “Shades of Blue” is an accurate description of the album’s overall atmosphere. Each individual piece feels like a different shade of the same color. Both Van Overmeire and the Skylark Vocal Ensemble show an impressive versatility in their skills, but a throughline of introspection and meditation ties the album together.

Lyrically, Van Overmeire doesn’t shy away from depth and genuine emotion. “Shades of Blue” consists of two separate but interrelated choral works. The first is titled “Hereafter am I,” and the artist describes it as “a meditation on generational influence and identity.” The second work, titled “Between the Shadows,” is described as “an exploration of inner strength.”

We’re ushered into the album’s sonic landscape with “Torch of the Past,” the first part of the “Hereafter am I” suite, and in my opinion, one of the strongest pieces on “Shades of Blue.” What makes “Torch of the Past” most compelling for me is its sense of conflict, the quality that elevates a work to the status of fine art. In it, the narrator reflects upon a struggle to break generational curses and establish a sense of individuality apart from inherited burdens. Van Overmeire’s musical composition accentuates the atmosphere of desperation, building from a staccato to the climactic lines, “It’s my life / Do you know how I feel?”

From the resolute aspiration of “Torch of the Past,” we are drawn into the almost childlike curiosity of “Beyond the Gaze,” in which the narrator expresses a desire to transcend the boundaries of time to look into the past and understand the lives of the souls that begot them. There’s a sense of wonder and awe in the piece as the narrator finally arrives at the realization, “Across time and space I see we are the same.” In our era of uncertainty, it’s a comforting revelation.

“From this day On,” concludes the narrative arc of “Hereafter am I.” It begins with a melodic, pattering baritone section, gradually layered and enriched with other voices. “From this Day On” provides the sense of resolution to balance out the conflict of “Torch of the Past” and follow the yearning of “Beyond the Gaze.” The narrator finally finds empowerment through communion with their roots and decides to carry the weight of the past with grace, shown through poetic lines like, “One cannot change what oneself is. / What we are. Just like a star.” “From this day On,” elegantly closes out a tale of transformation – from rebellion against the past, to peace with it.

The next track, “When all is said and Done,” begins the album’s “Between the Shadows” suite, which represents a journey of self-discovery. In contrast with the “Hereafter am I,” suite, the lyrics here are more cryptic and surreal. That’s because the work exists in a wonderland-esquespace of the mind, where everything is subject to interpretation. Lyrics such as, “The shadow talks to me here. / It’s far and shallow. It comes closer. Here? / Why don’t you see?” set an eerie but intriguing tone and reflect the desire to reconcile the self with the external world.

“I come to You” guides us deeper into the mind, where the narrator struggles with feelings of isolation and self-doubt. The central image of a person walking in alone in circles in a confined space serves as an evocative metaphor, and both the music and lyrics are appropriately circular. Still, what strikes me most about this piece is that in spite of somber tone, it is not exactly a sad song. Instead, I detect an inquisitive lilt in the narrator’s voice, which seems to suggest they view their confinement as a problem to be solved rather than a fate to resign to.

At 8:47, “In your Dreams” is the album’s longest track. With its sonorous harmonies and slow, lingering melody, it envelopes us in emotional color while allowing us a moment to digest everything we’ve heard so far. Like a dream, the meaning of this piece is largely up to interpretation. We witness the narrator dreaming of someone beloved and asking “Why me?” We don’t know whether they are looking into the future or the past, but the ephemeral, yearning quality of the track tells us they are on the precipice of a grand revelation.

Unlike its enigmatic predecessor, “Where we live together” is a more straightforward love song, albeit a very honest and mature one. In it, the narrator relates their own love story, describing moments of joy and contentment as well as those of conflict and pain. It reminds us that although “love takes time,” it also endures, bringing us to the realization that the key to love (both of others and of the self) is patience. 

“Hiding between the Shadows” is the emotional conclusion of both the “Between the Shadows” suite and the album as a whole. It features a stirring soprano soloist cushioned by elegant harmonies and represents the narrator’s triumph over the self-doubt seen earlier as they embrace the world within themselves. They invite the listener to “Follow me,” showing a newfound willingness to share their private universe with others, and lines like “Take a stand,” and “no need to hide” suggest an emerging courage and resilience. 

The reference to “shades of blue” in the final piece provides the album’s title, and in the context of the song, it serves as a powerful metaphor. Blue is color that represents both sorrow and joy. The album (and all of us) contains everything shade in between. 

“Shades of Blue” exists at the intersection of musical virtuosity and poetic reflection, and Mark Van Overmeire could not have found a better group of singers to bring his work to life. The album spans an entire emotional journey – from conflict, to climax, to resolution – and its universal themes touch each one of us. It’s an album that demands not just to be heard, but to be really listened to.

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