First and foremost I have to say that James Sera is a highly skilled guitar player after hearing ‘Reality of the Fantasy’. Now that I got that out of the way let’s find out more about this debut album. The new record features James playing solo on the acoustic guitar with nothing more and nothing less. Sera will amaze you with his sharp playing skills as he proves to be one impressive performer.
All nine songs on ‘Reality of the Fantasy’ exhibit an intimate quality where it seems every chord James hits has some sort of feeling & meaning. This whole scene is captured solely by the acoustic guitar without any words which is a major accomplishment. The overall vibe here is a peaceful one where you get a very relaxing, ambient feel. Sera doesn’t just play but actually brings it all to life thanks in part to his guitar and playing ability.
The ironic part here is that Sera has a history of playing as an electric guitarist in the rock realm. This talented artist was heavily influenced by new-age acoustic guitar legend Will Ackerman to change his pace & musical direction. James did just that by painting an emotional portrait by way of nine thoughtful instrumentals. ‘Reality of the Fantasy’ is well-recorded with a very crisp sound that makes for one enjoyable listening experience.
Some suggestions though would be to make the tracks shorter in length because all songs go over five & six minutes long. I personally loved hearing the longer sets because James plays so darn well but I don’t know how the general audience will react. I’d say maybe shave off 2-3 minutes on each installment to make the record more listener-friendly. Second, adding some vocals to some of the numbers would have added another interesting dimension to the whole picture. The guitar already has a voice of its own and then incorporating Sera’s actual voice could have been a very cool approach. And how about this—while still hanging onto that special emotion James tapped into here acoustically maybe mix in some electric guitar. I think that would be an excellent idea and I feel this combo could potentially take James Sera to a whole new level!
By Jimmy Rae (jrae@skopemag.com)
[Rating: 3.5/5]
