Have you ever wondered what the colors of the rainbow would sound like if they could sing? It is pretty much what guitarist Lawrence Blatt has done on his latest recording The Color Of Sunshine. Blatt explores the natural relationship between colors, sounds and moods in his tracks. The tunes are written and presented in the order that the colors are found in along the light spectrum going from red to orange, yellow to green, blue to indigo and finally violet. Though many colors are stereotypical of evoking a certain mood like red for hot and sultry, blue for melancholic or green for calming, Blatt looks outside of these stereotypes and tunes into his own impressions of what mood the rainbow colors project.
Blatt worked sequentially along the color spectrum and collaborated with fellow ambient-guitarist William Ackerman on the recording. The Color Of Sunshine shows the purity and tranquility that can rise from the brush strokes of the acoustic guitar and the harmonious relationship it can have with string arrangements and percussive instruments. It is an album that enlightens peoples senses and opens them up to the sounds of peace that echo through the universe.
The dulcet tones and ambient soundscapes of "Look To The Sun" and "Gray Salt Marsh" have a new-age feel. The atmospherics have a mellifluous flow and knotting that resembles the schematics of a forest with some spots shallow and open and others more cluttered and crammed with shrubbery. The island beats of "Infrared The Abyss" are touched up with swishing acoustics and the wispy tendrils of the Spanish-tinged guitar strings along "Alhambra" project a sentimental feeling. The folksy tone of the acoustics in "Orange Blossom Honey" have a Celtic fringe with prancing beats that flap like horses hooves.
The glowing tresses of "Jaune" and the title track have a therapeutic vibe like bathing in hot springs and the buoyant swells of "Green Corn And Spring" and "Mar Azul" have a majestic flowering. The ambient textures of "Violet Blue" has a semblance to the folkloric tones of Renaissance Italy, and the country twang that puts icicles along "Black Rock Beach" have a likeness to American-Midwestern bluegrass. The candlelight flickers of "Reach For The Rainbow" are reposing and closes the album with a sense of inner peace that correlates to outer complacency.
The Color Of Sunshine is Blatt’s third solo album and one that leaves a good impression on listeners. Blatt developed his style of picking the guitar strings with only his fingertips rather than using a pick or his fingernails from his mentors Laurence Juber, Pierre Bensusan and Brian Gore. Blatt utilizes a variety of guitar tunings to vary the intonations of the strings, in addition to playing a host of other instruments on the recording such as bass, charango, ukulele, keyboards and percussion which add harmonic layers to the tracks.
The Color Of Sunshine is an exploration of numerous melodic relationships and seeing how their traits can fit together harmoniously. It is an album that is sure to please whether to entertain friends or when alone with one’s thoughts. It is the kind of gift that you give to someone to let that person know you want the best for them.
