Brightblack

Written during homeless stretches in Alabama and California and recorded in Kentucky (hence the title), Brightblack’s first album ventures to precisely those places. Long canopies of pedal-steel drone overhead as Brightblack principals Nathan Shineywater and Rachael Hughes move slowly through guitar and piano riffs, harmonizing like malnourished drifters who remain hopeful despite weathering a few too many sudden squalls and unforgivingly hot days. There are wise rivers worth listening to, they insist, transcendent woodland strolls that must be taken alone, cracking photographs to be held close to one’s barely beating heart, and a brighter future ahead. The chirping of Kentucky crickets emanates from every hole between songs, and as Nashville storm clouds gather and the prairie darkens, it feels cruel to wish that things won’t have improved for Shineywater and Hughes by the next Brightblack album.