6 tracks. Running time 62:48 You might have guessed from the album title that Stuart Michael's Total Serenity is a follow-up to his previous album Total Tranquillity. Like its predecessor the music is meant to be relaxing, and indeed it is, but this time there's an Eastern flavour. Here the oriental influences have been carefully merged with new age and Western melodic sensibilities. Stuart's given us a Western interpretation of graceful oriental (think China or Japan) musical styles. The instrumentation appears to be a combination of piano, acoustic guitar, harp, and keyboards/synths with possibly a flute. Yet in places we hear sounds with a definite oriental feel. The track “Graceful Movement” conveys an image of gently flowing arms and hands in the practise of T'ai Chi. A contemplative melody plays out on a plucked instrument, guitar or harp I think, while various brief sounds like glissandoes and bell tinkles adorn the backdrop. A flute melody also comes in and subtle string orchestration adds further nuances. For me this piece conjured up the image of walking through a pretty Japanese water garden. A particularly restful piece is “Equilibrium”. This opens up with rippling sounds as if from an Eastern instrument, and combined with drum and vocal effects it leads one to imagine a traditional opera with heavily made up dancers. As the piece progresses it moves to a more peaceful interlude as piano takes over from the other instruments while carrying on with the basic melody. Total Serenity has an easygoing charm making it a superior example of the new age genre. It's ideal music to play while sitting in the garden on a summer's day watching the sky and birds going about their daily life. And if you're into T'ai Chi then it could work as an accompaniment.