Jeff Pearce To the Shores of Heaven

Jeff Pearce's latest release almost literally does take you 'To the Shores of Heaven'. Surreal ambient guitarscapes ebb and flow in a very liquid, ethereal manner. With rare exceptions, it is difficult to tell that the guitar is the instrument of choice. Though plucked strings are evident on 'A Fading' they seem to reverberate forever, and they are surrounded by soft, delicate layers which are themselves guitar-based, though one can scarcely believe it upon listening. Most of the remainder of the disc is even more formless, such as the beautiful 'Sudden Light'. Ambient music rarely if ever gets better, or more purely relaxing, than this.

Giving a track-by-track description in words really would not do Pearce's music justice. The CD is excellent throughout, never deviating from the outer realms of ambient space. As with prior Jeff Pearce releases, this is top-notch music for floating. Generally, each track explores a light ambient space for just a few minutes. 'The Emergence' shimmers brightly, with soaring guitars and plenty of atmospherics. Virtually all of the CD shines, rarely straying into darker realms. A real standout is the 11-minute 'Rain as a Metaphor', which is about as dark as the disc gets, but even this has beautiful effects which sound quite heavenly. The opening minutes seem to have lovely female choirs, but no doubt this is again accomplished with guitar - amazing. There is an incredible passage at the 3:40 mark which really caught my attention, threatening to totally sweep me away into oblivion. My favourite memorable musical moment on this disc, but only one of many. Simply brilliant. (PD)

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