Artist: Shaun Ferguson
Album: La Lumière De L’Ombre – L’Ombre De La Lumière
Release Date: July 14, 2023
Genre: Classical Crossover
Notable, award-winning New Brunswick multi-instrumentalist, Shaun Ferguson, is thrilled to release his breathtaking new album La Lumière De L’Ombre – L’Ombre De La Lumière [The Light of the Shadow/The Shadow of the Light].
Starting with the mesmerizing “Flying Black Crow,” this eight-song release, featuring one vocal track and seven instrumentals, immediately immerses you in a haunting and emotional journey. What makes it truly extraordinary is the personal story behind its creation. The piece was composed on Shaun’s late friend Jean-Marie Pit Benoit’s guitar, a heartfelt tribute that adds profound depth to the music.
“Flying Black Crow” isn’t just music; it’s a powerful emotional experience. It has the remarkable ability to stir contemplation, pensiveness, nostalgia, and a touch of melancholy in the listener. Its haunting quality lingers long after it’s played, leaving an indelible mark. This track showcases the timeless power of music to convey emotions, memories, and connections that transcend words.
“Heal,” the sole vocal track on the release, delves deep into the themes of inner struggles and the earnest desire for healing. At its core lies the powerful refrain: “I don’t want to feel the way I do, I hope I can heal.” This refrain encapsulates the essence of wrestling with complex emotions and the unwavering quest for personal growth and renewal. The song’s captivating blend of heartfelt lyrics and musical composition forms a profoundly touching and unforgettable piece. It strikes a chord with listeners who have navigated their own moments of inner turmoil and yearned for the transformative power of healing.
Overall, La Lumière De L’Ombre – L’Ombre De La Lumière serves as a testament to Shaun’s versatility and creative prowess. Whether you’re drawn to heartfelt lyrics or entrancing instrumentals, this album has something to offer for every music enthusiast.
Care to introduce yourself to our readers?
Greetings everyone, I am Shaun Ferguson from the Acadian peninsula in New Brunswick. I’m a self-taught guitarist and composer, and I basically love to play any instrument that has strings.
Tell us a bit about your most recent release.
I’m very proud of this new album. There’s so much correlation between the themes and my artistic approach. The relationship between dark and light is so essential to everything we know and are. And for me, music is such a powerful way to navigate uncharted territories of my inner world, it helps me bring light in the darker and lesser-known parts of myself. This is my third release, and it’s the most honest and raw of them all. With some exceptions, I played every instrument on the album and worked on every aspect of production. My vision of the album was so clear, I had to go through with it.
Where do you tend to pull inspiration from when writing?
I’ll try to keep this simple. Inspiration itself, in my view, is everywhere, like the air you breathe. It’s always ready to seep in, but you have to be ready too. You have to meet it with a state of being that is just above the rational mind. For me, it works better when I take care of all the stuff that can burden my mind before taking the time to work on music. It’s about bypassing the mind, and forgetting yourself enough so that you lose the illusion of being apart from the universe, and be a part of the universe instead.
Do you have any upcoming shows you’d like to tell us about?
I’m doing an album launch in Montreal, QC on the 3rd of October and in Moncton, NB on the 21st. These events will put forth the vinyl version (LP) of the album. I’m very excited because everything about this album has been thought of for this format, and it’s the very first time that I’ll be printing this format also. Just before that, September 28-29, I’ll be headlining a guitar festival in Sherbrooke, QC. And after between November and January I’ll be moving around a lot, Morocco, Belgium, France, and Ireland…
What’s your goal for the remainder of 2023?
My main goal in 2023 was to release my new album. That being accomplished, being able to consistently do some touring in this post-pandemic world was clearly a goal or a fantasy. I hope this album is going to help the expansion of my career and open lots of new doors.