Ian Blurton's Future Now/Look Vibrant
Ian Blurton’s Future Now
Signals Through The Flames // Pajama Party
Ian Blurton has established himself as a mainstay in the Canadian music scene for over thirty five years, performing, engineering, producing and mixing on more than a hundred projects during that time. Although he has fronted several bands, most notably Public Animal, Blurtonia, Bionic, Change of Heart and C’mon, this is his first solo project in his vast career in music. Signals Through The Flames, released by Pajama Party on June 7th, 2019 is a culmination of all those years of rock & roll experience.
With the collaboration of long time friends and musicians, Ian Blurton has delivered a record that draws heavily on inspiration from classic rock and today’s obsession with psych-rock and doom. While Blurton draws on these influences, they don’t get caught up on the usual tropes of effects-laden guitars, excessive fuzz and down-tuning, focusing instead on clever songwriting with hooks and clearly vocalized melodies that soar on the wings of monster riffs. If that’s not enough for you, Signals Through The Flames is also bursting at the seems with tasty guitar solos. The overall result is a hard rock album that carves out its own domain, bringing the future to head and laying a course that will no doubt draw a following.
- Jeshaiah David
Look Vibrant
Cherish Everything // Independent
I’m not going to sugarcoat this, Look Vibrant’s Cherish Everything is one of the best albums I have heard in a long time. Every song provides moments of dynamic intensity while hosting a myriad of loveable melodies. The widespread sound design provides a meditative experience while kaleidoscopic imagery and melodies keep the listener fully engaged and interested.
The lyrics on this album are narratives partially based on people the band met on tour in 2017. Each vocal performance is delivered with such high emotion and confidence that all I want to do is learn everything about every song. “Memory Balloons”, the albums opener, discharges on all fronts. With explosive sounds being paired with mellow pads and angular guitars providing a backdrop to beautiful vocal melodies, every part fits so well into each other that it should be illegal. “Jail My Son” messes with the stereo field, creating an individual space for itself. With an almost Steve Reich-like intro, the song then bursts into a multicoloured palette of sounds that teeter the line between pop music and experimental tape loops. Again, the guitar playing is tremendous and helps tie all the parts together on every song. My personal favourite, “Surface Love”, has a chorus that’s been stuck in my head for days. This tracks production is a statement to everything I love about this record, plenty of left turns that keep you on edge, while giving off a chill atmosphere. Did I mention that the guitar playing on this album is really fucking good???
I could go through every song gushing about what I enjoy about it but really the best way to understand Cherish Everything is to drop everything you cherish and go listen to it. Right. Now! Seriously, this band is so good that in a few years, I know for a fact you will regret that you didn’t get on this train immediately.
- Declan Paxton
