Reviews for Sunlight To Blue... Blue to Blackness

Sunlight To Blue... Blue to Blackness was released back in June 2008. Here's a selection of reviews:

"The sleeve for Sunlight to Blue... Blue to Blackness is totally black save for a monochrome photo of half of Vini Reilly's face (a la Young Marble Giant's 'Colossal Youth') yet the music starts out incredibly bright and sunny, making you feel like you're on the beach (a nice beach, not one covered in sandy sick), as it goes on it gets progressively more mournful as the title suggests. The first half of the album is reverb-y solo guitar stuff pretty much all the way as you'd expect, with the usual hints of classical and flamenco styles. The occasional subtle addition of other instruments on a few tracks complement his sound without detracting from the general feel, the track Ananda differs since a piano (played by Poppy Morgan) takes the lead with Reilly playing 'intrusive guitar' as accompaniment but in the context of the album it works."

- Brett at Norman Records

"Factory Records legend Vini Reilly returns with a brand new album for 2008, with his signature guitar sounds in tow, opening up with the echoing nylon strings of 'Glimpse', before adding some amplified elements on the supple, effects-laden 'Contact'. In fact, it's worth mentioning that Reilly makes extensive use of digital guitar effects throughout this album (and a good many other releases for that matter), which could prompt a love-or-hate reaction in a modern audience. Regardless of how highly you might regard his lyrical, deeply melodic playing style, the very fact that everything is so comprehensively caked outmoded, often rather thin sounding production treatments can be something of a turn off. Still, it's very much Reilly's sound, and you could never fail to pick it out of a crowd."

- Boomkat.com

"The opener is a wonderful retread of the very rare song, 'The Party' and sets the scene for minimal electronics and pretty plucked guitar with just a slightly forlorn dressing. Further in there is the almost bouncy version of 'Never Known', a song that sparkled on the early Factory album 'LC'. Here it shuffles with an almost bogle sound and works simply because Vini sings without sounding too much like the last bus has been missed and the rain is getting wetter. 'Ananda' is a gorgeous piano-led piece that was written by Poppy Morgan - what a talent. 'Ged' is another shimmering piece with the slightest of touches and deft arrangement, in fact most of this album is quite stunning without shouting it loudly from the rooftops.

When Vini recorded for Factory back in the 80's and 90's, the boss Tony Wilson was desperate to stop him singing but his favourite artist stubbornly ignored the advice. Here he sings on 3 out of 11 and you wonder if Tony was right. I think he was - but only up to a point since some of Reilly's songs are just as emotional as his music on its own. If you haven't heard him before then start here - its his best for 7 years and reminiscent of the beauty displayed on his best albums, 'Guitar & Other Machines', 'Obey The Time' and 'Vini Reilly'."

- Allgigs.co.uk