“Equal Parts Reason And Moonlight is a terrific mix of frugal neo-roots charm, fragile indie rock and memorable songs. It’s not an everyday sound by any means, and drawing comparison with other artists isn’t easy/Stuart’s words are haunting and laden with wintry imagery, which is reflected in both the arrangements and the album’s artwork. It’s a near perfect record for the season and provides suitable accompaniment to long dark evenings, drinking hearty red wines and putting the world to right/The many attributes of this fine record are simply impossible to resist or ignore.” - Leicester Bangs Magazine, UK
“Equal Parts Reason and Moonlight is one of the best albums of 2011, a sweeping, silver-screen mix of ’60s psychedelic pop, folk-rock and atmospheric electronica with exquisite strings.” - Edmonton Journal
” (Equal Parts Reason and Moonlight is) a well-constructed album of muscular, full-band folk and clever songwriting/The moonlight, then, comes in terms of the album’s cinematic scope, the atmosphere of a fully realized album, how all that impeccable arrangement transcends the feeling of structure. It’s good art, cleverly crafted and spotlessly executed.”- Vue Weekly
“Jeff Stuart & the Heart’s latest is as the title says: two equal parts. Reason comes through in a well-constructed album of muscular, full-band folk and clever songwriting: the way Stuart, on opener “Apple Tree” pleads, “Oh, oh, oh / I wanna go home” while musically the band refuses to give in to the same despair buoys the sentiment in a unique way. Same with the playful push of “I Was a Wolf,” or “Swallowed by the Morning Sky,” which moves from a bass-y bounce to being carried by string swells, eventually becoming more urgently beautiful as it rises to a crescendo. The moonlight, then, comes in terms of the album’s cinematic scope, the atmosphere of a fully realized album, how all that impeccable arrangement transcends the feeling of structure. It’s good art, cleverly crafted and spotlessly executed.”
-Vue Weekly (Nov. 23, 2011 – Issue #840)
“Alt-country might be the starting point for the Hearts, but only in an allusive way, almost as if they decided to reconstruct the genre after hearing about it rather than actually hearing it. They’re baroque rather than barroom, enamoured of tricky musical arrangements and elliptical lyrics ( Wrong I Guess), shoegazers that sometimes like to stomp. Brian Wilson would appreciate the vocal harmonies, Charlie Rich would nod appreciatively at Stuart’s existential weariness; call them what you will, I’m calling them for the year-end Top 10 list (4.5/5 stars).”
-Edmonton Journal
“A general sense of rampant creativity lends these heartfelt, plaintive songs a dreamy, unpredictable quality that keeps the listener engaged from the disc’s beginning to its end… the ambitious arrangements highlight Stuart’s songwriting and vocal performances to great effect, burnishing the lustrous melodies with layer upon layer of musical dynamism. It’s elegant, sophisticated, daring, and brilliantly creative, but more than anything, just as the band’s name suggests, this music is indeed from the heart.”
-CKUA Presents: Alberta Disc-overies
“It’s hard enough for me to go out on a Saturday night these days, let alone a Tuesday. I’m glad I dragged my ass out last Tuesday, though. The show at Pawn Shop was, in a word, epic. Jeff Stuart has seriously got something special going on. An all-star band and really, really great songs.”
-Vue Weekly
“…basically tantric sex in a bottle. Stuart begins singing —his voice about a third of the way between The Jayhawks’ Gary Louris and Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy. As these warm, epic lyrics wash over you, what’s going on in the background is even more amazing, a slow-moving merry-go-round where every new horse catches the light in its own unique way… Total win-win, taking the corpse of alt-country and turning it unrecognizably beautiful (5/5 stars).”
-See Magazine
“Holy shit, am ever I sick of awesome music. Just kidding – more like vibrating still…mostly thanks to the WCMA machine…as hoped Jeff Stuart ripped the faces off his Teddy’s audience”
-See Magazine
“Edmonton’s Jeff Stuart, kind of a fist-raising Jim Belushi was backed by one of those musician’s musicians bands-technically stunning, and layered with organs, violin and keyboard-to-mouth melodica by Dwayne Martineau.”
-Exclaim Magazine