Electric Blue - Sunshine Daydream

Electric Blue

Sunshine Daydream
self-released; 2015

3.2 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

Brian Figel aka Electric Blue has been making music and playing in bands for the last ten years. His recent release Sunshine Daydream is a complete DYI effort and solo venture that is a mixed bag full of songs that often feel like pieces of music that never got fully fleshed out.

Almost none of the songs go over the two-minute mark. Figel occasionally has moments of inspiration such as the very first track entitled “Wherever” which is a fun, catchy pop/rock sound that at its best could bear comparison to a song by Pavement. The song is the most success Figel has and for some reason he never attempts another song on the album which is even in the same vein besides “Why Wouldn’t You.”

The next couple of songs take a step back in terms of aesthetics. His vocals were clear and fit well into the mix on “Wherever.” Unfortunately the same couldn't be said about “Sunshine Daydream.” His vocals were in need of compression but lay so low in the mix I couldn’t understand a word. Despite these issues it’s one of the most enjoyable songs on the album. The same could be said about “Strings (Prelude).

“Why Wouldn’t You” while not quite on par with “Whenever” has some solid instrumental parts. After “Why Wouldn’t You” the songs are rather sparse revolving around little more than a single guitar and vocals. His last mild success is “Return.” The piano is a nice touch, which was a much needed deviation from the rest of the material.

Others songs like “????”  are slightly comical and managed to blow out my speakers. His line “ everything dies” might make you chuckle but watch out about twenty-five seconds later; his voice is about 4 DBS louder than the rest of the song.

I don’t have a problem with songs this short but in this case a number of them simply feel like there should have been more to them. Figel presents a number of ideas here but can’t seem to get past his initial impulse. I hope that Figel can build a foundation from “Wherever” on his next release as well as elaborate on his ideas.

Tweet