Still Light – Lything

Still Light is a three piece experimental folk band featuring musicians Lucy Hague, Kirill Nikolai and Sand Snowman, who hail from Edinburgh, Colorado and London respectively…

Lything was originally released in 2009 in a run of 50 CDr copies on Apollolaan and was met with much critical acclaim. The album returns here for a second run of 100 copies on vinyl, this time available through Tonefloat. With an accessible and eclectic mix of folk, psychedelia and prog-rock, Still Light are in command of a very tight sound, which is all the more impressive when one considers Lything was created long-distance, the musicians recording their parts separately.

The album consists of six tracks and opens with Through The Grain. The piece begins with an accordion-led intro before coming in with an inspired pairing of upbeat folk and post-rock influenced experimentalism, with strong harmonising dual vocals by Hague and Nikolai. Still Light have a firm grasp of instrumental interplay and the post-rock refrains fit very well into their folk roots, reminiscent in parts of Nick Talbot’s Gravenhurst. Footprints In The Garden is a nostalgic piece which features an older woman narrating a story of a time now passed, her voice given minimal musical accompaniment. Subsequent track August is more upbeat in tone and a stronger number overall, before Tenebre provides a strong finish to the album, with a noteworthy use of slide guitar and a particularly strong use of their usual male and female vocal harmonising.

Lything is a fine example of an album with strong crossover appeal and though some of the techniques performed here can feel familiar at times, they are brought together in a manner rarely matched by contemporaries. Each of the three members within Still Light are clearly very talented musicians and it’s a pleasure to hear their strong chemistry overcoming the obstacle that distance provides. Though perhaps verging on the saccharine at times, the vocals are nonetheless strong throughout and work well within the context of the bands evocative guitar melodies. Besides, one hesitates to question Still Light’s method of lyrical writing and performance when that method goes toward providing an album as strong as this.

Lything is available from Tonefloat now in a limited edition of 100 copies on 180 gram black vinyl in handmade sleeve.

- Review by Adam Williamsfor Fluid Radio

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