The self-titled debut album from Los Angeles-based challenge Darker Lighter captivates with a cathartic, melodic rock immersion. Songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Salar Rajabnik conveys relatable thematic focuses — emphasizing loss, heartbreak, and a quest for private id following tumult — amidst an array of hook-friendly rock productions. Aesthetically conjuring names like The Verve and Teenage Fanclub, the album stirs in its invigorating sound. Darker Lighter releases on Might 2nd.
“Hanging On” opens the album with a warming rock expanse; crisp twangs and a sturdy underlying distortion accompany an introspective lyrical drive. “Feeling like another person, you’ll by no means really feel the identical approach once more,” Rajabnik sings, artfully capturing a way of in-between in a single’s life — “don’t know who they’re, you solely know who’s come and gone.” Textured guitar work previous the four-minute flip is particularly compelling, with a jangle-rock radiance. The following “Sometime Quickly” caught our ears earlier this 12 months, shifting seamlessly from a roaring rock immediacy to the “I’ll be coming round once more,” show of private perseverance.
A selected standout on an album filled with many, “Be” follows up two shows of rock-forward ardour with a extra layered manufacturing — reminding fondly of The Verve in its hovering string preparations and steadier vocal unveilings. “You’re busy digging your self in a gap,” they set free, shifting right into a stark “you’re by yourself,” acknowledgement — capturing an out-of-place emotion. “Hanging On” compels in these emotions of in-between as properly, and “Be” continues that honest thematic maintain inside a hooky approachability. The twanging guitar traces and sporadic doses of strings cohesively complement the hovering vocal ardour, exuding a craving and expressions of disconnection — whereas culminating in an general message that, per Rajabnik, represents how “the worth you pay is who you must be.”
All through the album, Rajabnik’s songwriting is consuming in its from-the-heart craving and depictions of soul-searching — typically set alongside momentum-filled buildings with alt-rock pedigree. “Are you able to hear me? … Do you see me as I fall?” his vocals soar on “Shadow of a Doubt,” which strikes from understated jangly ruminations into an ardent rock energy; it’s one other depiction of private tumult and the need to interrupt by from these obstacles. “Open Up, Sunshine” performs with assuaging reassurance in response, enjoyably harking back to Teenage Fanclub in its blaring guitar work. “Open up sunshine, one other model new day,” the vocals open, comforting that “it’s gonna be okay,” and that the “mild is right here to remain.” The result’s a shimmering catharsis, urging to embrace the sweetness and sunshine that surrounds and hopefully will grace future occasions.
A jangly power-pop spirit additionally arises on “Like Birds Away” — pleading “you realize you gotta let it go,” inside a metaphor of birds flying away, like one’s troubles. The starry-eyed optimism inside, for brighter days, is enthralling and replay-inducing. “Take It All In” closes the album with satiating impact, intertwining lush acoustics and twanging guitars inside views of passing time and anticipating change. “The recollections stay,” Rajabnik sings, reinforcing continued themes of lingering private moments and in the end shifting on from them. Darker Lighter is a improbable rock success from begin to end.