Two symbiotic events have come to my attention this week, the release of several works from my old favourite bands/musicians, and my reconnection with the greatest headphones ever (as far as I'm concerned), my good ol' Sennheiser HD650's.

To me, the experience you get with 650's on your head is a lot more than just good sounding music. And yet, it is not exclusive to the audiophiles out there, something I certainly am not. In fact, I think I'm very slightly deaf in my left ear from a lifetime of heavy metal music and festivals before my tastes softened dramatically. So I'll never be an accomplished reddit snob in this regard unfortunately.

Anyway, these headphones reveal to even the most casual listener things that were simply absent in their apple Airpod maxes, Bose QC's and Sony MX's. The first time I put these headphones on, god it must be something absurd like 8-10 years ago now... the Universe that was unlocked to me stunned me into tears.

How had I listened to this song so many times, and never once heard what I'm hearing right now? Where did that glockenspiel come from?? Are these headphones some anti-establishment product unveiling to you what Big Headphone doesn't want you to hear?

I'm convinced that even if you are one of the majority of people who simply use music as a background noise or just something to bop your head to in the car... if you put these headphones on in a quiet room for 3 minutes, music will change to you forever.

The problem is, most people don't have 3 minutes going spare to sit in a quiet place and just listen, without immediately going to their phones. I'm certain that the very act of looking at a screen or scrolling dulls your senses as well as your attention span.

People used to listen to music in a very different way to now. It was common to get a new record and just sit, listening, perhaps a whole album through with nothing else going on. That was the day's event. Music was an actual thing, a produce you bought and valued and used.

Nowadays, music is just a replacement for the noise of traffic and construction in the city surrounding you. That's a tragedy to me, even more so now I'm back on the 650's.

The reason I stopped using them was indeed opportunity. Sure, I technically had time, but my work requires a noisy-ass commute over 2 hours per day, and things like band practice, band club, and a whole lot of other noise I simply have to block out - Enter the Sony MX's. These are excellent headphones in their own right, and I have used them for hours every single day for years to keep me in a quiet place while the world around me falls into normalized chaos.

But as good as their noise-cancelling is, they have certainly dulled my appreciation for music, and I find myself listening more to podcasts than music. What a terrible mistake! Why do I care about American problems and Mexican Aliens?? (tbh I completely ignored that dumbass story, I mean jesus christ...)

Well, in the last week it came to my attention that a bunch of music came out that I am frankly obligated to check out:

• New Tesseract Album
• New Porcupine Tree Album
• New Jacob Collier Single

And, on Friday, new Steven Wilson Album.

Tesseract

found their footing as a kind of extremely punchy prog metal band. In previous albums they had some issues with their production, with a lack of emphasis on vocals being the main contention. They replaced their singer, then brought the old one back I think? But either way, that punchiness just HAD to be experienced on the 650's. I can't think of punchier sounding music.

This album did not disappoint. I suppose it's less catchy at least after a first listen, but man did they improve production and performance. The vocals are absolutely on point. This guy is severely talented, and if you're into metal, you will absolutely adore his ability to scream bloody hell (somehow on pitch?) and serenade you with a soft vibrato in the same breath. The vocal harmonies are classic Tesseract and it all comes through like nothing ever has before in these headphones.

As a musical nerd, I also happened to notice a lovely subtle trick they do at the end of their track Legion, which might be missed by most, with an ambient texture of sound very slowly raising in pitch up a step before transitioning to the next song in a new key, without you even realising. Pretty neat.

Porcupine Tree

haven't released an album in something like 10 years! I think they broke up or went on hiatus while the main man, Steven Wilson did his solo projects and focused on his production career. Unknown numbers of people have been waiting for their return as their legendary status in the progressive music scene was sorely missed.

Well, as I mentioned, Steven Wilson is a producer of music as much as anything else. In fact, he is considered an underrated Legend, who is perhaps lesser known due to his refusal to sell out. But needless to say, the experience of P-Tree in my 650's has been an absolute blessing. Again, I find this release less catchy or memorable than previous works, but I guess that's not so important this far into a band's life. And not being catchy does not determine the goodness of a music.

Jacob Collier

is, as I've probably mentioned in the past, a musical genius of the modern day the likes of which has never been seen. This man - and he's only recently a man, really - has blown away the brilliant minds of legends such as Herbie Hancock and Hans Zimmer, in their own words!

He is in HIGH demand by major pop artists, having transformed the music and mixes of Coldplay, performed with many legends such as T-pain, John Mayer and Steve Vai, and everybody who learns anything about him are simply lost for words at his capacity to create ridiculously complex music while still appealing to a mainstream audience.

Most if not all of his music is created and produced in his own bedroom, a place he has lived in his whole life in London, and he often has hours-long live streams demonstrating the process of a given track, so we know this is legit.

Is he a world class producer? Probably not, but the sheer monstrous detail in his music with unrivaled vocal harmonies, piano flourishes and microtonal modulations is an utter pleasure to experience - again, even more so in my equally genius headphones.

Going Back in Time

This aural experience is not limited to new music, of course.

To be honest, as much as the technology behind music has advanced, I wouldn't say it has actually improved in the last few decades. Even going as far back as the Beatles will give you extraodinary experiences.

limitation drives innovation

This couldn't be more true. The amount of care that went into a Beatles or Queen or Abba song was beyond what anybody in the modern day is really willing to sacrifice. Now we have ready-made drum samples and synth which really need no innovation at all. Sounds good - release it on the spot. Maybe pan something to the left or whatever.

So these headphones are also wonderful for transporting you back in time to whichever decade you please. Keith Jarrett, a musical genius known for his hours-long improvised concerts on the piano, is also known for his passionate yells, percussive foot tapping, wood-bashing, and sing-alongs to his own ideas when he's really getting into it. But these headphones allow you not only to hear every breath he makes, but every pedal on the piano, every press of a key, and every motion of the audience.

You are absolutely there, at one of these literally once-in-a-lifetime concerts (by their very nature of being improvised), which can otherwise never occur again. Keith himself is too old now and has lost the use of one hand due to a stroke, so you couldn't even get another concert like this by the man himself. This headphone experience is therefore as close as you could possibly get, with closed curtains and a beeswax candle, maybe a cat on your belly as you lie in bed.

Also, try Kiss From a Rose by Seal. Pre-autotune days, and yet the guy and all his harmonies sound more in tune than anything since. The mix of this song is nothing short of perfection even to the untrained ear.

And for a bit of a different experience, Arooj Aftab's Udhero Na, a bit of... Hindustani Jazz Fusion, I guess? Great spatial experience here.

Get a pair and listen!

I'm telling you, even if you're not even interested in music, a pair of Sennheiser 650's are just an absolute must in life, if only to use once in a while when you're feeling depressed, or you have some time away from the family for some peace and quiet, or for any musician generally (Most musicians probably already have them - they know what I'm talking about!).

They're pricey, I think about $400 these days, but it's like an investment in your soul which if you ask me is worth at least $750 and you get a great return on peace of mind.

Like, you don't have to be a painter or photographer to buy a painting or photo to frame on your wall to improve the vibe of your home. This is the equivalent of that, only it gives you 100x more enrichment per use. And they'll last you at least a decade if not a lifetime. The greatest headphones still being produced are rarely called out as an improvement over this particular model.