Lightning Bug's 2019 album
October Song was a dazzling pastiche of shoegaze texture, dreamy ambience, and smart songwriting that subtly challenged the known boundaries of what atmospheric rock of its type could be. At first blush, certain songs sounded like faithful
My Bloody Valentine worship, but they always pushed quickly beyond the expected to find a new path that began with familiar influences. Third album
A Color of the Sky continues the group's tireless forward motion, clearing some of the smeary reverb and distortion to reveal a new approach that's gentler and clearer but no less otherworldly. Several big changes play into this shift in
Lightning Bug's sound. Where the band began as a recording project for songwriter/guitarist Audrey Kang and expanded to a trio as it evolved,
A Color of the Sky is the group's first material to include contributions from new bandmembers Dane Hagen and Vincent Puleo. In this new configuration, the quintet set up in a makeshift studio and recorded live in the room together, resulting in a wildly different feel than the densely layered tracks of earlier recordings. The folksy tinges that existed as undercurrents before rise to the surface as the arrangements become more toned down. Songs like "The Right Thing Is Hard to Do" or the delicate and slow-burning title track are led by acoustic guitar and place Kang's voice in the forefront with a distinguishability that's almost unrecognizable from the hazy dream state of
October Song. The
Cocteau Twins-esque vocal treatments are still there, but they get dialed back to faint echoes. This new clarity makes more space in the songs for every element to jump out. The warbly tape-hiss guitar interludes on "September Song, Pt. 2" catch the ear easily, as do the sparingly used delay treatments on the drums. While there are still traces of the shoegaze volume of earlier work (the rumbling fuzz that drives "Song of the Bell," the stacks of interlocking vocal tracks on "I Lie Awake"),
A Color of the Sky trades immediacy for intentionality. The album at times brings to mind the slow-moving immersive sound worlds of bands like
Low,
Talk Talk, and
Mazzy Star, with
Lightning Bug again expanding on familiar inspirations to craft an intricate and beautiful personal expression, only softer. ~ Fred Thomas