“Suns R Us” is the latest full-length album by Shared Image, a music outlet of Craig Delin, a Canadian songwriter and multi-instrumentalist known for his work with bands such as Trust Game, Sueisfine, Hey You Millionaires, Silver Medals, and Sic Transit Gloria. It’s his first piece of work this year and a third full-length release since 2020, making him one of the most prolific artists on the contemporary scene. Soundwise, Shared Image combines many different but complementary music genres to illustrate such perfect sonic imagery. Perhaps alternative rock comes to mind first, but you’ll unquestionably notice some of the finest sonic ingredients borrowed from indie rock, post-rock, shoegaze, dream pop, etc. Armed with years of experience and many brilliant ideas, Shared Image combines all these additional elements, enhancing, accentuating, and decorating particular segments or the entire songs while remaining loyal to the primary sonic direction. Therefore, “Suns R Us” is a catch, engaging, memorable sonic experience worth revisiting over and over again.
This marvelous sonic journey begins with a title track, a perfect display of Craig Delin’s writing, composing, arranging, and producing abilities. Each segment arrives with a comprehensive collection built upon cleverly assembled themes, melodies, harmonies, chord progressions, riffs, and other sonic delicacies. You’ll notice some synth ambiances lurking around, supporting delicate guitar interplays to the max. The rhythm section offers more than necessary heaviness, depth, clarity, and dynamics through delicate low-ends and rhythmic patterns. It’s such an incredible instrumental piece that serves as a perfect overture to the remainder of the material. “History Now” is coming up next with straightforward nineties alternative rock vibes. The guitars shine in the limelight once again while the impressive vocal harmonies seamlessly balance low, mid, and high notes, emphasizing all the instrumentations to the max. The upbeat rhythm and semi-distorted basslines provide more rawness, aggression, and dynamics, making “History Now” such a fresh, unique, and innovative piece that stands out from anything you could hear on the contemporary alternative rock scene. “Unrecognizable Faces” continuously levitates between the nineties alternative rock and modern indie rock sound. There are also levitations towards more straightforward shoegaze and dream pop waters thanks to the generous servings of the reverb effect, expertly applied over the arpeggiated and regular chord progressions. Like in the previous songs, Shared Image paid so much attention to detail, so this song also arrives with a perfect structure, garnered with detailed segments, brilliant ideas, and impressive orchestrations.
“Chance Of Survival” is another standout track on this marvelous full-length album. It channels subtle late eighties and early nineties post-hardcore vibes but with more grungy and alternative rock instrumentations involved along the way. The calm, soothing, relaxing, ethereal vocal harmonies complement raw, heavy, robust guitar riffs while the much milder chord progressions give more depth and complexity to an already detailed track. The drumming patterns propel all these instrumentations to new heights while the excellent basslines offer more heftiness, clearness, and deepness to the mix. “Crooked Line” goes back to the eighties indie sound, heavily drenched with dream pop melodies, harmonies, themes, and other sonic maneuvers. The arpeggiated chord progressions reign supreme here, as they’re vividly hearable from scratch to finish. Shared Image gradually applies more distortion and this clever move unquestionably spices things up on an entirely new level. “An End To The Means” delves deep into the shoegaze and dream pop waters with another dosage of reverby, mesmerizing, ethereal chord progressions, which serve as a perfect backdrop for more calm vocal harmonies. The vocal performance commands attention while emphasizing all the segments and instrumentations with such precision and finesse. This song unquestionably showcases Shared Image’s versatility and ability to write and compose songs in all possible music genres.
“Sights And Sounds” demonstrates Shared Image’s darker sounds, as this song combines many impressive eighties post-punk and goth rock-inspired sonic maneuvers with immensely detailed rhythmic structures. It’s a hypnotic track that immediately grabs your attention and refuses to let go even after the song ends. “Undeterred” is an ode to the late eighties and early nineties grunge movement, with all those sonic maneuvers resembling something Babies In Toyland, L7, or Nirvana would record during their careers. The heavily distorted four-chord progressions, high-pitched vocals, raw basslines, and energetic beats accentuated with continuous splashing over the cymbals are just some of the song’s characteristics, but you’ll discover even more if you dive deep into Shared Image’s luxurious sound. “Heroes Don’t Know How To Die” is another post-hardcore-inspired alternative rock track with an addictive theme that forces you to repeat this track once again. The upbeat rhythmic patterns, heavily distorted basslines and guitars, and the tension provided by the excellent vocal performance make this track such an enjoyable sonic journey. The artist also incorporates some more melodic moments, but this track almost solely relies upon aggressive, abrasive, energetic segments heavily drenched in distortion. This marvelous sonic voyage closes with “Said You,” a song that channels some of the best auditory maneuvers you’ll hear on a modern alternative and indie rock scene. Shared Image shines during moments like these, as he provides a perfect instrumental composition where catchy, memorable, engaging themes flawlessly match a colossal wall of sound offered by the remaining instrumentations. It’s a perfect closure of an incredible full-length album.
Craig Delin’s Shared Image is one of those solo musical outlets you should immediately put on your radar. His ability to breathe fresh air, break all the rules, and shapeshift boundaries of so many music genres goes beyond comprehension all the time. It’s a perfect full-length release that vividly showcases the creativity, talent, experience, and knowledge of an artist. “Suns R Us” is available on all streaming platforms. Don’t miss it!
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