We’re huge fans of concept records here, and today, we’ve got a really good one to showcase – one that could very easily be the closest thing you could get to watching a movie while only using your ears.
There’s something massive and cinematic about “The Sun Is A Star“, the second LP from New Jersey duo Bright Shining Lights – something that pulls you in not as a listener, but as a viewer. Across sixteen meticulously sequenced tracks, Art C. Gusmano and Rob Maru have constructed a universe that feels less like a record and more like a film score for a movie that hasn’t been made yet.
Recorded in a humble basement but sounding larger-than-life, “The Sun Is A Star” orbits around the vast unknown, using space as both metaphor and muse. Drawing influence from Pink Floyd’s expansive psychedelia, Radiohead’s emotional precision, and Hans Zimmer’s widescreen presence, the album unfolds like a cosmic journey. It’s a concept record in the truest sense: a story of exploration, isolation, and the search for belonging that grows more layered the deeper you drift into it.
Tracks like “Go For Launch”, which sparked the project, feel like act one of a larger narrative, setting the stage for a voyage that blurs the line between rock and score. Synth textures bloom like nebulae, guitars swell and recede like gravitational waves, and vocals guide the listener through moments of quiet awe and existential reflection.
More than anything, “The Sun Is A Star” encourages the listener to explore the lost art of listening to an album front-to-back and surrendering to a complete world. It’s ambitious, immersive, and unabashedly cinematic. As Gusmano puts it, “I think that the idea of inviting the listener to ‘create their own visuals as they listened’ really clicked with us. It’s made for film. Just not a film that’s been made yet.”
Even the most talented artists can struggle building an entire world into a record. And yet, Bright Shining Lights has done it with ease, creating a piece of art that both film enthusiasts and audiophiles could be inspired by, a perfect way to experience a cinematic odyssey only using your imagination and your ears. Take a listen to this phenomenal record from front-to-back, close your eyes, and see where this journey takes you. We can guarantee that you’ll love where you end up.
Stream “The Sun Is A Star” here.
The post Bright Shining Lights Score a Cinematic Masterpiece with “The Sun Is A Star” appeared first on Magnetic Magazine.