Since my childhood, music remains the admission cost to the theater of the mind. My parents, teachers and friends played instrumental music as a way to evoke and inspire imagination and Secrets of the Moon is one of those currencies. Secrets... is minted in musical memory fragments whose oboe conjure The Dream Academy, ethno-percussive bits, the ether of Muslimgauze and synthesizer tones and melodies hint at Dead Can Dance, among other pop retro fragments that are molten in a kind of nostalgic foundry.

It seems Fallen's goal is to channel experience and personal narrative into a kind of soundtrack, and Secrets of the Moon largely succeeds. The album and track titles themselves suggest storybook tales to enthrall young and old alike. The title track opens dramatically enough, with simulated gusts of wind that might pass as moans from a chorus of spirits while resonating drones intone and reverberate as if along massive canyons followed by ethno-percussion fragments and gusts of wheezing wind. A third of the way through the title track, an oboe melody materializes and hovers like a friendly guiding spirit light in these darkened canyons. 'Golden Dust (the Vanishing)' holds more dramatic tension, melodies crafted from santoor and synthesizers, accented with rock guitars that seem to narrate the plot line of the story. 'Ravenhand' moves the narrative along, accompanied by our friendly oboe, again with santoor and percussion'ambushed by drone midway, but melody returns and prevails to the end of this piece. 'Of Dreams (and Wounds)' is the more magical (and dreamlike) piece whose reverberating synthesis evoke 80's Philip Glass pop compositions that has both a brooding and mysterious quality. For this listener, moments of nostalgia are experienced, particularly when the saturated guitar power chords waft from the ether near the end. 'Cosmos' is darker, whose wind instrument melody reminds of Angelo Badalamenti's more dramatic scores. Secrets of the Moon is book-ended with 'At the End of the World', a lovely downtempo synth-pop-esque piece with gusts of ambient drone and restrained hand-percussion and electric guitar accents that concludes our story on a calmer note. Perfect music for closing film credits, actually.

Secrets is of the Moon is what you play to a writing class, in a darkened room to give inspiration before the creative ideas flow. It is both evocative and dramatic in a wistful way that just fits the traditional storybook mood. One gets the feeling that no matter how dark Fallen's narrative gets, all will be well by the end of the album. These are the sounds of enchantment, wonderment and fantasy with enough drama to keep the listener engaged.