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Luka Bloom
Before Sleep Comes
Bar None Records
www.lukabloom.com


Adversity can sometimes lead to great changes and personal growth. Before Sleep Comes is definitely such a case. Luka Bloom was having a bout of severe tendonitis and couldn't play his normal steel string acoustics. So, being the ingenious Irishman that he is, he picked up his nylon string and started playing away, delving into the soft sounds that are inherent to that instrument. Upon realizing how much fun he was having exploring this tender, quieter style of songs, he decided he would gift the public with a record of the songs. Over the course of a few cold and windy nights, Luka sat at Old Mill Studios and set the tunes to tape, just him and his nylon string guitar. Thus was born Before Sleep Comes.

As one would imagine, these songs are pure beauty. From the arrangement of the traditional "The Water Is Wide" to the Bloom penned title track, each of these songs is as perfect falling asleep music as any that has ever been found on recorded media. The tunes are soft and slow, with just a hint of sadness - the type of sadness that lulls one softly into the blessed arms of sleep. "Before Sleep Comes" is every ounce a Luka Bloom song, with his clear baritone voice dancing smoothly over soft fingerpicked arpeggios. Luka's adaptation of the venerable "She Moved Through The Fair" is resplendent in its simple beauty. The song is crisply picked melodies over a low drone and distant background of birds singing. "Camomile" may well be the newest addition to the necessary lullabies that every parent and lover should know. The traditional "Nora" is simply beautiful in this arrangement, and the oft-sung "The Water Is Wide" is in the running for finest variation of all time.

But this album would not be complete without the closing track "She Sings Her Songs With Open Eyes". It is a deeply resonant track, filled with the imagery and passion that only Luka Bloom can bring to recordings. It is a joy to listen to… if one can stay awake long enough to claim the prize.

-David DeVoe

Track Listing:
1. My Singing Bird
2. Before Sleep Comes
3. She Moved Through The Fair
4. I'll Walk Beside you
5. Camomile
6. Be Still Now
7. Nora
8. The Water Is Wide
9. She Sings Her Songs With Open Eyes


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