Son Lux - Brighter Wounds

Son Lux
Brighter Wounds
2018
Spotify

Son Lux has always been able to develop these sounds that are meticulous and sweeping all at once. It comes as no surprise that Ryan Lott, the songwriter for Son Lux, is a classically trained composer. His arrangements are so rich and imbued with such passion you can't help but get swept up in them. He is always doing something just a little bit extra to make his sound more diverse and complex, but always keeps a true emotional connection right at the heart of it. "Dream State" at some points is this frantic electronic explosion, not ideal if you're nursing a hangover (#ME), but also is this almost emo level anthem complete with a call and response. He does this throughout the album blending in other styles of music into his synth-rock driven world. "Labor" feels like a crooning love song when it begins, but it becomes so many different things throughout it's run time even including some beautiful strings at one point. Yet at the heart of this record remains an electronic producer, someone trying to explore the outer edges of what can be done with pop, and specifically synth pop music. The disparate sounds like you hear on "Slowly" shouldn't particularly work but there seems to be this unifying force going through all Son Lux's music giving it more weight than it might have in a producer with lesser talent's hands.

This ability to make the sounds that seemingly have no rhythm eventually come together and soar is a rare and true gift. It instantly adds this artistic cred to the album that it would not otherwise would have had. With all this talk about how artistic the album is you would expect it to loose some of the more melodic qualities, but that just never happens. Son Lux is constantly search for big bold sounds but also wanting to make sure they still have some connection to something real. The ideas on Brighter Wounds just feel so much more important than anything He has done before. Perhaps age or experience has lead Son Lux to this record, but whatever it was it sure as shit is beautiful. This album is slow and will take you some time to really dig into, but if you give it a chance to move and bloom you are really in for a special experience. Son Lux just keeps getting better and better.

8.5 out of 10