Brightblack Morning Light - Motion to Rejoin (Matador 2008)

Brightblack Morning Light, hailing from Alabama, are a duo specialising in dreamy Southern music, rooted in blues gospel and country. The end result though is something else entirely. Mostly recorded with a Rhodes piano slowly seeping in the foreground, while muddy percussion and delicate tinges of strings pulse in the background, it is almost a soundscape, existing mostly as one continuous track where the songs seem to evolve into each other and aren't distinguishable from one to the next. Joanna Newsom employed this method very successfully on the immaculate 'Ys', but the difference was, while you could hear how the songs progressed from one to another within the movement with slight key changes and repeated conceit refrains, there were 5 distinct tracks within each moment. Here all the songs are similarly toned with an over-arching mood for the whole thing, making it hard to pinpoint which tracks are your favourite as they are so seamlessly interwoven. Naybob Shineywater's vocals are dreamy and soft, unarticulated and breathily purred throughout while the Rhodes piano is slow and simple. This is a difficult album to immerse yourself in despite admiring the musicianship and minimalism playing throughout. There is a sense of outdoors and remoteness and where 'Opressions Each' demonstrates a worthy touch of orchestral soundscapes, the sometimes instrumental moments are lost to the all-too-similar feel throughout.



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