Django Lumiere - The Blurring of the Edges

Django Lumiere 

The Blurring of the Edges
self-released; 2014

3.6 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

Django Lumiere dropped his impressive self-titled debut in 2013 and is back with his follow up effort entitled The Blurring of the Edges. The Blurring of the Edges very much feels like a continuation of his first release. There are still no vocals and his guitar is still very much the foundation of the songs. Also similar to his first release is that it is a complete DIY effort and as before sounds above average. I was able to fully enjoy the album but couldn’t help but think having it professionally mastered may have helped out some of the minor issues I noticed in regards to separation of instrumentation and EQ allocation. 

One of the reasons this album works is because it is very hard to classify. The style and genre is hard to pinpoint, which I feel is a good thing for an artist to have. I would assume that Lumiere is able to clear his mind of musical influence and zero in on his guitar while he is creating them, which I think is a very hard thing for a lot of songwriters to achieve. 

HIs unique style and writing is apparent on the opener “Distorted Memory, Pt.1” as he combines cascading guitar parts. He coats his guitars in reverb and delay, which create a lush arrangements of notes. It’s pretty but progressive as if the song has an energy that seems to get more intense as it progresses.

“Fracture” is a bit more hectic and features some notable lead guitar while “Positive Symptoms” slows things down a bit to make some of the most attractive guitar arrangements on the album. “Clozapine Tremors” displayed some experimentation from Lumiere, which paid off. A little more than half way though he contorts his guitar into a hazy fog of ambience that eventually snaps into a melodic progression. It was certainly one of the finest moments on the album. The other highlight was “Clock Watching” where he combines orchestral swells with guitar and explores atmosphere more than we are used to. He taps into a solid groove that is fun to latch onto. 

The Blurring of the Edges is a solid follow up to his self-titled album and further solidifies his abilities. I hope this is just the start from Lumiere as I occasionally heard pockets of potential, which point to more inspired material in the future. 

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