Here, But Gone
Self-Released, 2024
10/10
The Houston trio Brighwire return with their inimitable brand of Americana, where few genres are off limits across the 10 carefully crafted tracks.
“Lousy Weather” begins with Samuel Barker’s warm electric guitar and friendly voice that’s aligned with Kim Barker’s harmony vocals in a country rock sort of way, and “Tough As Nails” follows with a swift delivery thanks to Samuel’s scrappy drums and Kim’s expressive pipes amid some punk flavor.
Landing in the middle, “Last Night In Kansas” opens calmly, where Liz Sloan McGovern’s well timed fiddle suits the intimate singing, while “Girl In The War” is a thumping folk-rocker that benefits much from Michael Helfenstein’s steel guitar and both melody and grit.
“Burning Down’ and “Edge Of The World” and exit the listen. The former is a cozy, roots rocker that’s immediately memorable, invites a sing-along and is the album’s best, and the latter focuses on acoustic guitar amid the pretty duet of timeless songwriting.
There’s no shortage of musicians flirting with this sort of alt-country these days, but few are doing it as well as Brightwire, who pen authentic, eloquent and sometimes anthemic songs you won’t soon forget.
Travels well with: Lucero- Should’ve Learned By Now; Tim Barry- Spring Hill