Blue Glass: “Jardin Des Étoiles” (2021) Vinyl Review

Blue Glass is the project of Michael Shunk, a musician based in Seattle. His new double album, Jardin Des Étoiles, is a departure from the previous release, 2019’s Pale Mirror, this one featuring all instrumental tracks, mood pieces to help transport us from our current cares, each track creating an interesting atmosphere. The instruments used on this album are synthesizers and guitars. The album is partly inspired by the work of French film director Chris Marker, and there is a line from Chris Marker quoted on the inside of the album’s gatefold: “We do not remember. We rewrite memory much as history is rewritten.” Seems in that case that our own past is just as difficult to see clearly as the world’s past, and that certainly rings true. While listening to this album, then, we tend to rewrite our own memories, inspired by the music, and what we end up with is just as true as anything else we remember. This double album is presented on clear orange vinyl.

Side A

The album opens with “Jardin I,” which begins by helping us clear away our surrounding reality and enter a dreamscape, the steady tones pushing away the day’s concerns. And once we are there, once this track has us, it comes into sharper focus, with brighter colors, a sun rising over what at first seems a desolate world, a place you might expect to find tranquility, or at least solitude, loneliness. But there is a greater intelligence behind the landscape, a sense of control from both above and below, and we find we don’t have to walk in order to move; we can remain still, eyes closed, and enter into its domain. Interestingly, once that happens, it lets us go, having accomplished what it set out to do. Then with “Jardin II” we are taken into memory, splashes, or shards of memory reflected in glass, in crystal, which we can gaze into, contemplate, if we so choose. Yet we are disconnected from the images, as if we know they don’t quite represent reality. The person then is not the person now. Besides, we know that nothing from the past, nothing revealed here, can cause any harm. And once we realize that, we see the beauty of the place, and of our own lives, however fleeting they may be. We soon might find ourselves drifting away farther from the present, yet also distant from the memories, into the shadows of those reflections, and there is a letting go, a sense of peace.

Side B

As “Jardin III” begins, there is an approaching light, a physical presence that we can see and experience, a joy. It seems from without at first, but as it gets closer, it seems to come from within as well. Or perhaps there is a merging, and once that happens we are aware of a darker element within. There are other voices. This is not strictly a one-on-one experience, as we might first have believed. But we are all on a similar journey, just with differing perspectives and reactions. There is even fear here, but that doesn’t touch us in any way that would mar our own experience, or keep us from this particular journey. Then “Jardin IV” opens with a warmer, deeper voice gently calming us, removing whatever fears might remain. This voice we can feel in our chests as well as our heads, and there is an undeniable comfort, even pleasure, in having it pass through our bodies, this gentle intelligence meeting but not possessing us. There also seems to be a curiosity on both sides, a willingness to learn, and we are provided the space for it, for an exploration within. This is a pleasant place whose beauty seems to have no beginning, and certainly no end, and we feel safe drifting within.

Side C

“Jardin V” eases in, coming in waves that gently wash our way and eventually over us, and we glean a little more information with each successive wave, a greater sense of where we are. It is like an intelligence reaches out to us, and finding us receptive, becomes more bold, more forward, ready to take us on a journey. And before we realize it, we must have entered one of those waves, for now it is as if we ourselves are traveling toward others, that we’ve become part of the intelligence. What a strange sensation, that we have something to present to others when only a moment before we were eager to receive. Yet then it begins to recede from both them and us. Or are we receding from ourselves with it? Then “Jardin VI” takes us to a more grounded place. Still the information comes in waves, but these are more solid, less ethereal. They are more set in memories that have shape, and an emotional strength that solidifies them in our mind. We can hold these thoughts, these memories in our hands, and without worry of damaging them or changing them, perhaps because the changes have already occurred. Somehow they remain inside us even as they fade.

Side D

The double album concludes with “Jardin VII,” this one feeling different right from the opening, for there is an intensity, a bright powerful tone, a light that surrounds and envelops, sweeping us up in a manner that is less gentle than before. There is no question but that it is taking us where it desires. And yet within that there is some exchange, an easing of tension, even as the movement is undoubtedly forward. And as with everything else, it too then fades.

Record Track List

Side A

1. Jardin I
2. Jardin II

Side B

1. Jardin III
2. Jardin IV

Side C

1. Jardin V
2. Jardin VI

Side D

1. Jardin VII

Jardin Des Étoiles was released on July 16, 2021.