9 tracks. Running time 51:24 Brett Branning is a classically trained musician who has written music for both games and films. His debut album The Witch's Garden under the name Abandoned Toys combines piano and electronics – to name the most obvious instrumentation -- using classical sensibilities coupled with the accessibility of new age and ambient. The opening track “Within a lilac clutch” sets the scene with a gentle piano melody meandering between emotions of being lost and a reverie, as though one is exploring a mystical garden. In the background sounds like sprinkles of stardust and curious activity are heard but not fully discerned. Many tracks contain little or no piano, and it's these ones which tend to be a crossover between classical and new age or even ambient. In “The witch's garden (prelude)” gently humming vocal drones and graceful diaphanous washes gradually build in intensity and swirl along with wordless female vocals reminiscent of a religious chant. All this imbues the atmosphere with a sense of mystery and magic of the white rather than black kind. Voices are used to good effect in tracks such as “Where red shadows slumber”. Deep string chords hinting at nearby but cloaked secrets combine with almost choral “ahhh” vocals floating in the soundfield as if they're the voice of distant spirits. We hear more vocals in the closing and title track “The witch's garden”. Clouded rumbling alongside male and female vocals rising in emotional and sonic resonance give the piece hints of a requiem. The Witch's Garden isn't always an easy listen, at least for this listener who doesn't usually go in for classical styled piano music - probably because the melodies tend to be complex rather than the more obviously pleasing style found in some new age music. That said I find myself intrigued by much of the album because music in this vein rarely crosses my path, and it superbly creates a pervading sense of mystery hidden from the real world.