The Darkness Dressed In Colored Lights
Fluff & Gravy, 2021
9/10
Listen to The Darkness Dressed In Colored Lights
The consistently impressive singer-songwriter and guitarist Sean Rowe returns with his 6th studio LP, and it’s a break up album, where the troubadour finds himself steeped in folk-rock, but certainly not in the traditional sense.
Rowe starts the listen with the bare, poetic “What Are We Now”, which brings Ben Lester on pedal steel and Jeremy Boettcher’s upright bass to stark and atmospheric indie-folk, and “To Make It Real” follows with a quicker pace of lively drumming from Shane Leonard and Troy Pohl’s warm electric guitar as Rowe’s gritty, poetic vocals guide the tune into a dreamy, pretty delivery.
Closer to the middle, “Honey In The Morning” benefits from John Dehaven’s soulful trumpet and Chris Carey’s strategic bass in a dance friendly landscape, while “Married To The Lord” burns softly, amid a hazy intimacy complemented by Lester’s synth, Pohl’s keys and mellotron, and, of course, Rowe’s inimitably rugged version of gospel. “Squid Tattoo”, one of the album’s best, then shuffles with a charming energy of brass, keys, and guitars that takes nods at jazz.
“Rabbit Hole” lands near the end and might be the busiest track, where many guitars, violin, and keys make for a multifaceted version of indie-rock under Rowe’s iconoclastic vision, and “Toast” exits the listen with a powerful sparseness that turns minimalism into a cathartic, artistic and stirring finish.
Rowe cites Radiohead’s In Rainbows as a sonic influence here, and that’s certainly evident in the very creative textures that sometimes unfolds like a therapeutic body of work, exploring both the acute beauty of life and the inherent ugliness present, too.
If you’re unfamiliar with Rowe’s work, well, you’re missing out on one of today’s most substantial talents, and The Darkness Dressed In Colored Lights is yet another thoughtful addition to his glowing body of work.
Travels well with: Noah Gundersen- Lover; Damien Jurado- In The Shape Of A Storm