Composer and vintage keyboard maestro Moon Mullins wrote Hotel Paradiso — his newest work of programmatic exotica for Ruination Records — from the perspective of some lone, context-free traveler. They are at loose ends, eager for a few days in another open-ended, simpler life; from their vantage, we see, hear, and feel Paradiso. Mullins creates his imagery through a singular, meticulously blended combination of synthetic and acoustic sounds, played largely by him with help from his friends.

The scenario inspires the most ambitious and orchestrally-minded set of compositions the Brooklyn-based musician has yet released. Its predecessor, Water Your Flowers, felt more pointillistic and comprehensively electronic, conjuring images of utopian tiki bars, bonsai gardens, beaches on distant planets, and more. The palette of Hotel Paradiso is even more kaleidoscopic, creating moments of transcendent atmosphere that recall, at turns, Japanese ambient music, the early mood LPs of Henry Mancini, and the ethereal harmonies of Maurice Ravel.