Blue Acres, the creative umbrella of Halifax’s Darrel Cameron has just released the album Quiet Light, and when we have the time for quiet moments it sits as the perfect companion.
Quiet Light was written and recorded over a decade of Cameron’s life and the picture it paints is one of vulnerability, reflection, and empathy. As his song “When You’re Not Strong” suggests, this record might be best listened to “lying down close to the wall and letting the storm pass.”
The album feels like Cameron knows what you’re going through. He knows it because he’s been there himself and now he’s here to help. Songs like “Ghost Towns” and ”Hard to Find” are stark portraits of a man who is having to deal with an enormously heavy load, and yet, he still finds time to see your burdens and help you through them.
It’s no surprise to Cameron’s friends, family, or growing fanbase that he has made such a record. He has been helping people through his music for years now. After studying music therapy at Capilano University in Vancouver, he came back to Nova Scotia and worked in the field for 15 years.
“Working with people in health care, you get to see the resilience of humanity in unique ways,” says Cameron, who also runs the Blue Acres Facebook community; a forum for musicians to create, vent, share and support one another. Darrel Cameron’s almost conversational vocal delivery of these songs comes honestly. He’s a guy that genuinely cares.
David Scholten (co-producer) from Spaces Between Studio, along with Cameron, Steve Greene (bass), Matt Gallant(drums), Nick MacLean (guitar), and Lindsay Kyte (vocals) team up to bring you a record that is perfectly imperfect. Its lush ambient sections and sparse, quiet vocals lead you to the dimly lit table in the corner and it really does feel as though Cameron is talking to you.
In fact, it feels as though you may even be in the same room. You can hear the shuffling and the squeak of a chair in some of the recordings and it’s this raw honesty that is one of the best parts of this record.
“It’s the humanness and mistakes that appeal to me,” says Cameron who cut his teeth on artists like Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, and Bon Iver. Those influences come shining through in these songs and inform much of what Cameron has done these last ten years.
The Blue Acres umbrella is a large and ever-expanding one. Recently, Cameron has opened a studio in his home. Under the tutelage of mentors John McLucas (who also sings on the record), and Seth Goodwin, Cameron has begun to offer his services to others. He has a goal of empowering the artist and understands that the process of making a record can be an intimidating one. Again he is here to help.
If the sound of this record is any indication you’d be well served in taking him up on his offer of making you a record. The guitar playing on this record, although sometimes admittedly unpolished, sounds amazing when lined up against Cameron’s vocals, and the soundscapes he creates to support the tracks are beautiful and dreamlike.
From the chorus of “Cumberland County” to the quiet moments of “Ember”, Blue Acres has delivered a record in much the same way a grandparent might offer up sage advice; you’re ok. We’re ok. It’s going to be ok.
Heading into another Atlantic Canadian winter can be daunting and we don’t recommend that you do it alone. Fortunately, Blue Acres has given us Quiet Light to ensure that we won’t have to be.