It’s always great to hear new music that shakes you, that sorta knocks you off center a little, and makes the hair stand up on your goosebumps.
The first 63,000 times I listened to Mondo Cozmo’s “Shine” I didn’t notice the words. Rather, I was swept up in the flood of good tidings as the song soared and propelled me into the ionosphere. That may seem overly hyperbolic, but it accurately sums up the emotions swirling around in me as I listened to—make that experienced—“Shine.”
And then I heard it. The call to Jesus for redemption, the reference to “let ’em get high, let ’em get stoned,” and the moment-of-Zen line, “Everything will be alright if you let it go.” Intriguing, dichotomic imagery, to be sure.
The man behind this song, and other new Mondo Cozmo gems such as “Plastic Soul” and “Hold On To Me,” is Philadelphia-born, LA-based Josh Ostrander—aka Mondo Cozmo. The onetime frontman for Eastern Conference Champions’ three albums, Ostrander has also produced Voxhaul Broadcast and ex-Happy Mondays member Kavin Sandhu, and worked on various projects with noteworthy producers like Brendan O’Brien (Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen), Owen Morris (Oasis, The Verve), and Brad Wood (Smashing Pumpkins).
