Brightblack Morning Light – Motion to Rejoin [Matador 2008]

Brightblack Morning Light (Nathan "Nabob" Shineywater and Rachael "Rabob" or "Rabinyah" Hughes) are topnotch sloth-rockers reigning from Alabama. Unlike most modern hippie sounds (jam bands in particular), Brightblack take their subcultural leanings and branch out into territories that are inconceivable to jammy nitwits. They don’t dwell on thirty-minute guitar solos or release hundreds of repetitive live bootlegs, nor do they pamper to half-assed musical fusions, but the banner on the groups web page does read: “Anti Corporate, Anti Nuclear, Anti Coal, Recorded with 4 Solar Panels”, which my inner-hippie applauds. Brightblack’s hippie vibe is atypical; as is the case with the fantastic split cover EP with Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Pebbles and Ripples (2004), in which Brightblack compel Oldham to cover The Grateful Dead and Bob Marley.

Furthering their hippie leanings, Brightblack’s connection to the natural environment is a crucial influence on their sound. Residing in the “The Land of Enchantment”, their music reflects the area, as hinted at on Ali.Cali.Tuky’s (2004) beautiful opener, “New Mexico”. I’m sure the fact that Motion to Rejoin (the groups third full-length and second with Matador) was recorded in an intimate cabin in middle of nowhere New Mexico has something to do with nature’s infusion with their resonances. Their respect for the Southwest pleases me, as it’s a region that I am deeply indebted to and fond of. Thus, on Motion to Rejoin the mysteriousness of their compositions shines through like an alpine glow sunrise over a horizon of plateaus.

The opening number, “Hologram Buffalo” is like Stereolab on downers. In fact most of Motion to Rejoin sounds like a lot of music on downers: gospel, blues, soul-jazz, and even bizarre country and folk. Brightblack have always displayed beautiful down-tempo rocking reminiscent of distant styles, but with Motion to Rejoin they pull it off flawlessly, sounding both beholden to their forbearers and original. Motion to Rejoin is an idyllic dusk till dawn record, especially if on the road. I thought Pram’s latest, The Moving Frontier (2008), which shares a similar title with Motion to Rejoin, was a shining example of the same tender and cool soundtrack-like aesthetic common with Brightblack. That is until I heard the near perfect execution of Motion to Rejoin. In which each track blends seamlessly with the surroundings and the atmospheric gush felt with its flow is gorgeous and soothing.

“Gathered Years” is a lethargic wave of time and space. “Oppressions Each” is spread under a bed of electronics, a beat caught between dub and Mo-Town and lyrics evocative of freethinkers of the 1960’s. Some of the duos harmonizing is distorted, like on “Another Reclamation”, but it’s done in such a manner that the hum and hiss of the vocals only add to the hazy feel of the album. “A Rainbow Aims” is as if a late-60’s Miles Davis hired Otis Redding (when backed by Booker T. & the MG’s) and fed them basins of cough syrup. With chimes, lush keys and the eventual rise of horns, “Summer Hoof” is a great instrumental to flush out anxiety. “Past a Weatherbeaten Fence Post” is the most psychedelic number with wah-wah’s, pastoral production and a breezy ambiance that works well with the title. Motion to Rejoin’s closer, “When Beads Spell Power Leaf”, begins seeped in fusion-funk via Lonnie Liston Smith until reverberations bury the record behind a shadowy chasm.

Regrettably, Brightblack harbor some pseudo aspects of the free-folk scene: Native American imagery and monikers as romanticized by white hipsters, a fabricated drifter lifestyle and an adoration for magical realism (which is spurious in and of itself). All of these falsehoods are evident on the albums front cover, which is strewn with feathers adorned above a boat floating in an incandescent blue abyss. Yet Brightblack’s latest work is too powerful to dwell on such mishaps. Like Neil Young, who the celestial duo don’t necessarily sound like, Brightblack elucidate an ambiguous warmth and sincere energy that shouldn’t be overlooked just because the hippie label is seen as a “Scarlet Letter” or because of their free-folk veil.

Bardos Freedoom