"Clear Blue" is a musical meditation on life, awash in beautifully played acoustic guitar and overlaid with the delicate vocals of Australia's Paul Turner. Turner was moved to learn guitar after hearing Mason William's Grammy-winning instrumental hit from 1968, "Classical Gas".
"Clear Blue" is perfect reflection and relaxation music built on a foundation of stunning acoustic guitar. Sprouting from this foundation are plenty of strings and other goodies that serve to provide a more dynamic listening experience. While the hooks and melodies become more memorable after a few spins, there is no denying this music is pleasant to ingest - it goes down easy and leaves you feeling full and satisfied by the CD's completion in 31 minutes. The quiet build to an emotive climatic finish of opening track, "City Lights", makes it a standout track for me. "Love Meteorite" also 'struck' me as a highlight, as well as "Room", whose harmonica makes it sound like a cut from Sting's masterful "Ten Summoner's Tales". This is followed by one of the more haunting tracks on the record ("Poison") - a little bit of a dark cloud amid the clear blue. It's not only a great track, but breaks up the flow of the record and keeps it from sounding too homogeneous. Turner comes soaring back with the majestic "Come With Me", probably my favorite cut off the record. I am generally not a big fan of instrumental tracks, but the one included on "Clear Blue" (which happens to be the title track), is sublime.
If you enjoy acoustic-based singer/songwriters from Cat Stevens to The Williams Brothers to Glen Phillips, don't miss checking out Paul Turner. Additionally, if you are in charge of selecting songs for the next episode of Grey's Anatomy, consider some Paul Turner.
iPOD-worthy: 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10
Paul Turner on MySpace. Official site.
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