Sean Nicholas Savage - Shine - Baby Blue - VINYL LP

The glimmer of light in a stray cat's eye, the ebb and flow of ocean waves upon the shore, the bright streak of a comet across the night sky, the unconditional love between a mother and child these are some of the poetic elements that sparkle at the core of Shine from Sean Nicholas Savage, the follow-up to 2020's Life is Crazy. Where that album explored the crushing beauty of life, Shine is a record about recapturing the will to live after a period of sadness and stagnancy, and the return to positivity and hope wrapped up in music that adds a sense of rhythmic guitar-based folk intimacy to Savage's hallmark ebullient avant-pop.Savage says he was leaning into his InchTatsuro Yamashita and Elliott Smith fandomInch for Shine, a mix that immediately comes through vividly on opener InchFeel Like A Child,Inch which was the first song he wrote for the record. The pandemic had taken both an emotional and artistic toll on Savage, sapping his ability to be creative. It was after a long stay spent alone on the island Crete, sitting and staring at the sea that he felt a spark coming back to him. He sang Incha long joyful memoInch into his phone as he fell asleep one night, transcribing the words upon return to his home in Berlin and putting them to music. InchIt's a circular song about a return, for a time when I could feel wonder again, could imagine anything new,Inch he says. InchIt's possible to heal and fall in love with life in a new way after everything is destroyed.Inch This reaffirmation of love and healing is at the heart of all the songs that make up Shine, not only thematically but sonically as well. Shine was recorded in Los Angeles with Savage's longtime friend Mac DeMarco, who produced the record. Savage credits DeMarco with an enthused and open minded approach, allowing the songs to become a reflection of the vulnerable, intimate feel Savage envisioned for them. I