#26: Brightblack Morning Light

Brightblack Morning Light

Brightblack Morning Light

2006

Matador Records

Never appeared on the charts.

Brightblack Morning Light is probably the mellowest of the albums on this list, rivaled only by Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago, and with good reason: Brightblack Morning Light was a simple formation; Nathan Shineywater and Rachael Hughes are the only official members of the band. The two are native Alabamians who re-located to Northern California to begin recording for the band. However, the each of them only has one instrument to their name: Shineywater's electric slide guitar and Hughes' vintage electric piano. Both contribute vocals, but any other instrument heard on the album is played by a guest musician, ranging from bass to percussion to clarinet to trombone. The selections of instrumentation on the album is quite eclectic, a fact in itself that likely heightens my love for it.

Brightblack Morning Light is put together extremely well; as I mentioned, it is littered with several different instruments here and there, many of which are unconventional for the modern band (flute, trombone, gourd, tabla, etc.). The blend, though, is flawless. The album is smooth and natural, and is one of the most calming records I've ever heard. To explain it in corny, metaphorical terms: I feel as though I'm drifting on a quiet river, laying down, arms behind my head in a long, hollowed-out canoe. And even that may not do it justice. The album is gorgeous.

Lyrics do not hold a high priority on Brightblack Morning Light (a turn off for several of you reading, I know) and are often muddled to the point of near incomprehension, but that is not to say the songs are without meaning. In fact, the varied instrumentation is used for that very reason, to give you a slightly different feel in each song. (Let's face it, we have a different picture in our heads when listening to a triumphant trumpet solo as opposed to a soothing, bluesy clarinet. We've been bred that way.)

Now, I ranted a few reviews ago about an album that was too consistent; Tourist History had almost exactly the same structure in each of their songs, and I gave them a few negative marks for it.

Brightblack Morning Light is about thirty thousand times more consistent than anything Two Door Cinema Club will ever produce, but garners praise for it this time around.

No, I'm not just a hypocrite, hear me out:

Brightblack Morning Light is intentionally consistent. The style of music they are trying to evoke is a very laid back, soothingly melodic style, and a change of pace or sound would be too abrupt for anything the album would support. Again, that's where the diverse range of instruments come in: they satisfy your thirst for something new without actually changing anything else.

Also, to further the consistency of the album, the record is nearly gapless. The first five songs are played without a break (as if one long song on side A of a vinyl, which was most likely the point), followed by a standalone song as the sixth track, and two couplets, if you will, of gapless songs to finish the album. So if you consider a track to have a beginning and an end, the album would really only have four tracks:

1-5

6

7-8

9-10

I like visuals.

There will never be a hit on the Billboard 200 coming from these tree-huggers (they record in 100 per cent solar-powered studios and live in tents, cabins, and converted chicken-coops), but it will certainly be awhile until anyone matches the beauty and tranquility of Brightblack Morning Light.

I can't just pick favourites on this album, so a full track listing is below, as well as a link to "Black Feather Wishes Rise".

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Track Listing:

1. Everybody Daylight (6.01)
2. Friend of Time (6.31)
3. Fry Bread (1.46)
4. Star Blanket River Child (10.29)
5. All We Have Broken Shines (5.06)
6. A River Could Be Loved (4.04)
7. Amber Canyon Magik (4.54)
8. Black Feather Wishes Rise (5.06)
9. Come Another Rain Down (3.16)
10. We Share Our Blanket With the Owl (5.40)