My Top 40 Albums - #7

#7
Luna Halo - "Shimmer"

Year: 2000
Label: Sparrow
Favorite songs: Superman, Forgiveness, So Far, Wait For You, Running Away, The Way To Your Heart
Lyric sample: "My skin feels strange / Like there's something underneath / Locked in these chains / How I ache to be free / Dancing shadows / Call me closer but still I'm waiting // Until the sun stands still again / Until the earth reverses / Until my eyes can see the wind / I'll wait for You"

One of the truly exquisite recordings on this list, Luna Halo's impressive debut album Shimmer is practically bursting with dynamic, creative expression. It moves deliberately, never rushing, always giving its passages room to breath and progress at a natural pace. The songs tend towards the long side, but not unnaturally so. The band simply allows its ideas and motifs to play out properly. In so doing, they make sure that even the quiet sections have enough interest and are leading to or from something. Shimmer is a densely packed album. Every song is painstakingly assembled with just the right mix. The sound is guitar-laden, but it rarely feels heavy or bracing. In fact, one of the most notable features about Shimmer is its atmosphere. Luna Halo made a space for themselves in the industry with their brand of moody alternative rock owing to British bands like Radiohead and Delirious? for inspiration. They even cover a Delirious? song - "Hang On To You." It set them apart from the skin-and-bones bands of the 90's that were still hanging on to vestiges of the grunge movement. I don't have a lot of patience for meticulous sub-genre labeling, but I have no doubt that Luna Halo is post-something. Their guitar work is covered in effects and serves to blend the elements of the songs together rather than stand out in a flashy sort of way. The guitar solos, if you want to call them that, are frequently noisy and chaotic (see: "Running Away" and "The Way to Your Heart").

Their approach may not be new to British bands (Luna Halo is from the states) but it hadn't been heard much in Christian music, certainly not with this kind of quality. If they wanted to make a splash with their first record, you can tell they decided to do it by going over every track with a fine-toothed comb and making sure it was perfect. There's not a weak song in the bunch. The opener "Aliens" is probably the least interesting, but it gets by on atmosphere and sets the tone for the record. Luna Halo's sound is radically different from the funky rap-rock of Reality Check, from which several of its members have come. Front man Nathan Barlowe's voice has a spectacular range and a floaty quality that is superbly supported and complimented by Shimmer. I can't imagine any other timbre of singer being appropriate. And fortunately, they make use of his talents. The intelligent song structures give rise to a number of superb melodic and harmonious moments. The chorus of "Wait For You," the pre-chorus of "Forgiveness," the bridge of "Way To Your Heart," the ending of "Superman"... all these are gorgeous passages, among the best the record has to offer but by no means the end of its charms. The lyrics are predominantly small and simple but effective.

The new Luna Halo that was released last year is for all purposes a completely new band. It has lost the Christian themes which are prominent throughout this first record, it has abandoned their signature atmosphere in favor of a more straightforward rock, and Nathan's voice has roughened quite a bit in the last 8 years. He's never sounded better than he did on Shimmer. Beyond that, the songs simply don't compete. There isn't nearly the depth and subtlety found here. When I first listened to Shimmer, I recognized that it was good but wasn't immediately sold. It's not impenetrable at all, but it doesn't have the quick riffs or blazing solos that catch people's attention right off. It does, however, have an enduring quality. If you love one song enough to listen to the rest, each one in turn unveils its secrets until you see the beauty of the whole. Or at least, that's the way it worked with me. I'm still finding new things to love about Shimmer. That's why it sits proudly in my top 10.

I have scoured the internet to find this music vid because it is one of my favorites and it's one of the best songs on the record. I finally found it, albeit in a low quality form. It's been difficult to find. Seemingly, the band or someone involved with their label/marketing has been destroying access to the remnants of the old-era Luna Halo. If you want to watch it, you should do so immediately, because it will probably be pulled from YouTube. I didn't tag it with the band's name or the song title in hopes that it won't be easily searchable and that this will delay its removal. Without further ado... Superman.