The Way You Shine

Though it was long in the making — the recording starting in the mid-'90s, but not finishing until about ten years later — The Way You Shine still has a pretty informal, low-key, countrified acoustic folk sound, though there's occasionally a full-band rockish vibe with drums. More than half-a-dozen musicians contributed to the album, but lead singer Eden Daniels is the main personality in the music, having co-written most of the tracks (usually in collaboration with David Bielanko). Her vocals have a pleasingly smooth timbre, yet an odd slightly reserved and detached quality as well, almost like she's more a narrator than a protagonist. While the tunes and arrangements are similarly pleasing and slightly rustic on the surface, the songs are actually populated by fairly bleak images and sad, fearful emotions. Despite its prolonged gestation, there's a bit of a tentative undeveloped aura to the record, which seals its status as something of a minor if appealing effort. As a bonus track, this CD adds the one song the Shimmers had previously released, the jaunty country-flavored Christmas tune "Coal," which had appeared on the Seasons Greetings Philadelphia compilation.