The
Alice in Chains co-founder's first solo outing since 2002, the aptly named
Brighten sees
Jerry Cantrell dial back the dimly lit, minor-key ruminations of past efforts for something that hews dangerously close to hope. Co-produced by neighbor and film composer
Tyler Bates and featuring guest spots from
Duff McKagan (
Guns N' Roses) and
Greg Puciato (
Dillinger Escape Plan), among others, the nine-track set delivers a widescreen amalgam of dusty Americana, post-grunge, and hard rock that feels lived-in and loved. Opener "Atone" arrives under cover of darkness, and
Cantrell's bluesy, familiar cadence bears the title's emotional heft ("Gotta find a way to atone"). It's one of his best post-
Layne Staley compositions, and it's easy to imagine his late friend and co-frontman's equally distinctive croon welling up from the shadows in harmony. "Brighten" and "Dismembered" adopt a more reflective tone, pairing big road trip-ready hooks with fist-pumping Southern rock choruses. Those classic rock underpinnings weave their way into the laid-back "Prism of Doubt" and the moody "Siren Song," with the latter cut evoking the open-plains outlaw rock of
Bad Company.
Cantrell has always trafficked in influences outside of the Pacific Northwest, and
Brighten's flourishes of pedal steel, twangy leads, and dusty acoustic guitars pair well with the beefy post-grunge chassis on which they reside. Peppered with regret yet tempered by hope,
Brighten doesn't waste a note or a lyric.
Cantrell and company honed these pieces over a long, challenging year (2020), and you can hear the attention to detail throughout the LP's agreeable, just-over-40-minute runtime. Confident, inward-looking, forgiving, yet bruising in all the right places, it's not just a great album by
Cantrell's standards; it's a great record, period. ~ James Christopher Monger