Album review by: Jessica Shalvoy
Suit of Lights created a brilliant cornucopia of pop driven melodies and unpredictable musical arrangements in Shine On Forever. Joe Darone’s lyrical content takes bleak observations of this universe and turns them into philosophical poetry. Right away the album demands the listener’s attention with Stay With Us, a catchy lullaby for a rock and roll soul.
Other standouts on the album include Paint In Blood and The Human Beings. Paint In Blood’s heavy guitars and driving beat creates a build up of tension that pushes the lyrics to send listeners to battle. The song feels like we are all going to war as it blasts out of the speakers. The Human Beings challenges the entire human race to be something better. It’s a bold accusation in which Darone’s soothing vocals plea over a smooth saxophone. This isn’t the only song that features an instrument unique to the genre. Paint in Blood features a fantastic placement of the flute at the end, leading to the perfect contrast of heavy instrumentation with a delicate melody. Billy Carrión Jr. also stands out on saxophone in Another World. Christopher Walken demanded more cowbell from Will Ferrell. What he should have asked for was more sax.
The album closes with In Memory, a song written for Darone’s mother, who recently passed away. This beautifully written instrumental piece is the perfect close to such a philosophical and reflective album. It’s refreshing to hear such unique musical arrangements and a variety of sounds all on one album. Suit of Lights took a mish-mosh of instrumentation, melody, and lyrical content, and turned it into a perfect package of genre defying indie tunes.
Grade: A
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