Shadow to Shine

iTunes Review

Following his 2010 involvement as one-third of Incarnations (a recording project with Bart Davenport and Daniel Collas), Quinn Luke made a fresh return as Bing Ji Ling with his third studio album, Shadow to Shine. Much like previous recordings, this album successfully combines ‘70s-inspired R&B, funk, bubblegum, and even some smooth-sailing yacht rock to birth 11 songs that all play like the last handful of decades never happened. But the opening “Move On” also boasts a tinge of chaos in the breakdown, somewhat reminiscent of Curtis Mayfield’s 1970 eponymous debut as congas, horns, flutes, and wah-wah guitar all swirl in a mighty maelstrom before the song catches itself and jumps back on track for a sweet resolve. “Bye Bye” grafts heavily fuzzed-out acid rock riffs onto a foot-stomping soul groove, as if Blue Cheer and Sly Stone had shared a rehearsal studio. Of course it’s Ling’s creamy vocal croons that take center stage on Shadow to Shine, especially on the disco-kissed “Dreamin’,” where a chirping Moog glosses everything over so that Ling’s tenor slips into falsettos with an effortless cool.