Luke Jon Shearer crafts a style of music on his Close Your Eyes, Open Your Mind that is wholly distinct from other music coming down the pipeline. There are healthy doses of late-nineties Britpop and darkly emotive industrial elements, but the human element contributed to the compositions by Shearer spins the resulting songs in a bold new dimension. There is considerable cohesion that exists during the initial registers of the disc (Black Rain and Precious One) that ensures listeners will be sticking with the album from stem to stern.
Peace on Earth has a determine drum beat and a catchiness that will garner the composition considerable plays on college / alternative radio. Shearer is able to mesh together equal parts Stabbing Westward and Owl City to create something that resounds loudly, no matter what sort of music that one may typically appreciate. The album begins to spin to a close, but not before Shearer is able to utterly enthrall listeners with a one-two punch in The Dying Light and The Dark Poet. While they are two distinct efforts, the story that Luke discusses in these tracks is fleshed out and will require a number of spins before understanding everything that he has placed into the cuts. The Dark Poet has a slower, more deliberate tempo that seamlessly links together the electronic music of Wendy Carlos with OK Computer Radiohead and his own soul to make for an emphatic beginning to the end.
Visit Shearer’s website for biographical information, while a sojourn to his varied social media accounts will provide viewers with the latest in news about this innovative new musician.
Top Tracks: Peace on Earth, The Dying Light
Rating: 8.8/10
Luke Jon Shearer Close Your Eyes, Open Your Mind CD Review / 2014 Self / 10 Tracks / https://www.facebook.com/Lukejonshearer / http://www.lukejonshearer.com/ / https://soundcloud.com/luke-jon-shearer
John Sargeant, writing on NeuFutur as Sargeant, is the founder and editor-in-chief of NeuFutur Magazine, where he has covered independent music, PC hardware, consumer tech, and gaming culture since 1998. With over 25 years of continuous digital publishing experience, he has written thousands of hands-on game and record reviews, conducted in-depth hardware field testing, and analyzed digital media monetization trends. His work prioritizes first-hand evaluation and long-term product testing.
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