New year, new music, and kicking off 2026 with their new single, Shine On, Manchester band, Lucigenic are starting it as they mean to go on. And this track, taken from their debut album, is certainly a good way to get things going.
Shine On has a chilled vibe that still manages to have a lot going on. For example, the backing vocals that layer the track and give atmosphere to the instrumentals. It might not be something that you notice on first listen, but it’s a component that adds to the overall sound and makes it sound as great as it does.
Everything within the song sounds brilliant but what really helps drive the composition is the unique vocals that draw you in. That and the fact that the track sounds old, but not in such a way that feels especially nostalgic or like a deliberate homage to another artist. It works incredibly well and transports you back to a time I can’t even quite identify.
Shine On is quite repetitive in that the lyrics don’t change an awful lot. The words of the chorus differ subtly, varying the line that includes the title to ‘move on’ and ‘walk on’ for instance. This keeps things interesting when sticking to a basic structure, again a factor that works amazingly in this song.
The outro brings the backing vocals to the centre, a series of ‘ooh’s’ and ‘la’s’ being sung over a guitar. Although, the guitar comes in after a moment of isolated vocalisation, giving a sense of building up to a finale and bringing everything together. There is then one final line to finish the song, the line that alternated lyrics, but this time, of course, the band opted for ‘Shine On’, closing the track on the title.
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