Pacific Blue By Nicholas Gunn

Pacific Blue

By

Nicholas Gunn

Written by

Steve Sheppard

There are some albums that come into your life and literally touch your soul, they enthral your heart with good music, and lift your senses to previously unknown parallels of existence, Pacific Blue by Nicholas Gunn is now one of those albums.

This smooth and textured release starts with the graphic and beautifully coloured Into the Vastness. This is something truly special to start with, the lush and emotive keyboards and synths here, create a world teaming with possibilities and an abundance of life; a truly amazing start indeed.

Up right now is the awe inspiring And I (feat. Alina Renae). It doesn’t take a genius to suggest that this would be hit single with ease. The gentle keyboards perfectly match Renae’s imploring vocals in a track that you just won’t be able to stop playing.

Sailing has all the hallmarks of a truly beautiful ambient creation, it’s pristine and delicate tones greet our ears with the same propensity of an early summer morning breeze by the coast. The synths of Gunn here are utterly spellbinding, and the genre crossing styled chill out ethic, gives us a sense of an undeniable moment with a superb composition.

The quality of performance is something to admire right through the album, but a fine example among many, is this offering entitled Chasing The Light. The guitar sound is sun kissed, the keyboards and pertinent percussion are bathed in energy so redolent of here in the Mediterranean; this is one album and track that has to go to the beach with me.

The vocals of Alina Renae return on this next song entitled Fallen.  The production quality here is immense and builds gradually to an utterly perfect performance. The construction of composition on this piece is undeniably clever and the bass line tugs at the musical heart with ease.

The wide open expanse of the ocean can be sampled again now through this next piece called Adrift. An almost Medwyn Goodall guitar takes us on a journey through the wide open expanse of life and experiences. The mood here is truly captivating; one can literally flow with this quite colourful arrangement.

There is a mesmeric sense of ambience on this next piece entitled Float, a partner in tune to the previous offering, but lighter in its construction, never the less, a moment indeed to flow on the harmonic juxtaposition of tone, pitch and resonance. The nature of this track is calming and sensitive in its overall energies, and one to be loved and listened to many times over.

We now look across the horizon to glimpse the ever growing presence of the title track Pacific Blue (feat. Alina Renae). Emotive lyrically and thoroughly enjoyable in its presentation, the hovering intent here is palpable, the keyboards, synths and production of this arrangement is so very addictive to listen to, even the added tension that makes one feel the piece is going to explode is so very well crafted indeed.

Our penultimate offering is a song about my current location and called Coast.  The waving palm trees sway in an early summer breeze, the Lapis Lazuli ocean shimmers with an expectancy of warmer days and nights ahead, and the perfect soundtrack to all of that is this very piece entitled Coast. The smooth and delicate tempo really made this one a winner for me, and its melody and construction makes this composition one of the most charming musical offerings off the album.

We are now knocking on the doorway of the very last portal of music on this wonderful new album, it’s entitled Out from the Deep (feat. Alina Renae). The build and progression on this piece is amazing. Here is also a fine example on how to end an album. Gunn once again employs the talents of vocalist Renae and finishes with a true grandstand song, a composition that has power and intensity, but one that has an anthem styled quality too, that for me was utter perfection and simply the best way to leave the release.

Pacific Blue by Nicholas Gunn is a wonderful collection of compositions that could with ease cross a multitude of genres and not bother a single purist whilst doing so. For me this was and is a journey I fully intend to take again, one packed with quality productions, sublime compositions of great style and craft, and an album I am more than delighted to recommend to anyone.