
Issue #46 - June/July 2013 - Charli XCXLightning Dust
Fantasy
Jagjaguwar
Jul 02, 2013
Lightning Dust
The third album from Black Mountain members Amber Webber and Joshua Wells takes a stylistic turn, tossing their sparse psychedelia to the wind in favor of aloof synthpop. You could lose yourself in the absorbing, stark atmospheres of Infinite Light and its predecessor; these songs feel comparably sterile. Worse: The most distinctive, beautiful quality of Webber’s vocals—that trembling, vulnerable waver in her voice as she holds the longer notes—often disappears in this new style of song, lost in a wash of keys and electronic drums. “Moon,” with its gingerly-plucked acoustic guitar, and the haunting, strings-tinted ballad “Agatha” are the lovely exceptions here; there’s the old Lightning Dust we were missing for so much of the album. Experimenting with a change of direction for your third record is understandable, but drifting so far away from the qualities that made your sound so individual? That’s a little harder to forgive. (www.lightningdust.com)
Author rating: 5/10
Most Recent
- M. Ward Shares Nintendo-Inspired Video for “Engine 5” (Feat. First Aid Kit) (News) — M. Ward, First Aid Kit
- May December (Review) —
- Premiere: Course Shares New Single “I Called You Late Last Night” (News) —
- Watch boygenius Perform “Cool About It” on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (News) — boygenius, Stephen Colbert, Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus, Phoebe Bridgers
- Spiritualized Announce “Amazing Grace” Reissue, Share Previously Unreleased Video for “Rated X” (News) — Spiritualized
Comments
Submit your comment
There are no comments for this entry yet.