Jude Shuma • Insomnium

I was first introduced to the wonderfully wavy music of Jude Shuma over the summer. It was at a strange show somewhere off Kedzie, in a building that had walls but no roof. I suppose somewhere between construction or deconstruction. From the rooftops of the buildings on either side of us, crowds gathered with beers in hand enjoying both the summer evening and the show below. Playing from a stage illuminated equally by string lighting and projector visuals, Shuma's blissfully relaxing brand of psychedelic surf rock couldn't have matched the setting's vibe any more perfectly. So much so that I'd say the big man up top just might want to try his hand in music supervision if the whole divine creator thing doesn't work out. Considering that space will likely occupied by a condo building come spring, that night made for interesting frame in the block's gentrification time lapse to say the least.

I was so impressed with Shuma's set, I bought one of his CDs after the show - unfortunately I haven't encountered a CD player since. This makes the release of his new EP Insomnium all the more exciting on my end. Opposed to the lo-fi route of past recordings, Jude paired up with engineer Benjamin Rice who has each of three songs sounding incredible. Settle in and give this one a few plays, the whole thing is quite good. Above you can hear the project's single "Might As Well" courtesy of SoundCloud or stream the EP in full via Spotify below... the streaming war continues.