Brighter Wounds

by Son Lux

Overview

Their debut for the City Slang label, Brighter Wounds is fifth album overall for Son Lux, formerly the solo project of ghostly voiced pianist, composer, and timbre manipulator Ryan Lott. By the time they wrote and recorded 2015's Bones, Son Lux had expanded into a collaborative trio with guitarist/composer Rafiq Bhatia and drummer Ian Chang, both fellow sound manipulators. Unlike Bones, an audacious production with universal themes, Brighter Wounds was heavily influenced by personal loss and the birth of Lott's first child, in addition to the 2016 presidential election. A more intimate and -- at least relatively speaking -- quieter album, it still features the percussiveness and manipulated acoustic palette that, along with Lott's raspy vocal delivery, make Son Lux's sound so distinctive. Add to that Chang's hyper-irregular style, which is more prominent here, as well as the presence of collaborators such as chamber group yMusic and trumpeter Dave Douglas, and Brighter Wounds still feels explosive. A song that Lott has said addresses the potential reality-distorting comfort to be found in lies, "Slowly" plays like a sultry soul ballad, one peppered with warped sounds, unexpected silences, and rhythms that slide out of alignment with strict timekeeping. The softer, half-murmured "Aquatic" relies on echoing piano chords and viola. It's one of a handful of songs here that contain samples, mostly of other Lott-yMusic collaborations. Its lyrics capture the poignancy of the album as a whole, with lines like "We may all begin aquatic/But we leave only dust from our bones." The striking closer, "Resurrection," is a more anthemic entry that begins with Lott's voice, filtered as if over AM radio airwaves, before adding rumbling distortion, a full range of strings, and a children's choir to the mix while asking questions such as "Can we be this ugly and still have a beautiful life?" and "Is this what the Resurrection feels like from the other side?" On average, it's not one of Son Lux's catchier albums, but it is spellbinding, strange, and moving, and still as far away from expectations for a piano, guitar, and drums trio as any in existence. ~ Marcy Donelson

Product Details

Release Date:	03/17/2023
Label:	City Slang
UPC:	4250506843090
Rank:	83496

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Son Lux   Primary Artist
Arrington de Dionyso   Flute (Wood),Clarinet (Bass)
Rob Moose   Viola,Violin
Dave Douglas   Trumpet
Casey Dienel   Choir/Chorus
Jackson Hill   Bass
Indianapolis Children's Choir   Voices
Hideaki Aomori   Flute,Clarinet,Sax (Alto),Sax (Tenor),Clarinet (Bass)
CJ Camerieri   Trumpet
Nadia Sirota   Viola
Evan Sutton   Drums,Guitar,Choir/Chorus
Trina Basu   Violin
Kate Davis   Choir/Chorus
Kristin Slipp   Choir/Chorus
Arun Ramamurthy   Violin
Starr Busby   Choir/Chorus
Mark Bengtson   Drums,Guitar,Choir/Chorus
Nina Moffitt   Choir/Chorus
Anjna Swaminathan   Violin
D.M. Stith   Choir/Chorus
Hajnal Pivnick   Violin
Alex Sopp   Flute
Vanessa Upson   Choir/Chorus
Vuyo Sotashe   Choir/Chorus
Amy Hughley   Conductor

Technical Credits

Eli Crews   Engineer,String Engineer
Patrick Dillett   String Engineer
Rob Moose   Engineer,String Arrangements
Son Lux   Arranger,Composer,Producer
David Kutch   Mastering
Van Lawson   Engineer
Chris Tabron   Mixing,Drum Engineering
Hideaki Aomori   Engineer
CJ Camerieri   Horn Arrangements
Ryan Lott   Mixing,Engineer,Group Member,Horn Arrangements,String Arrangements
Evan Sutton   Engineer
Ian Chang   Group Member
Rafiq Bhatia   Engineer,Group Member
Mark Bengtson   Engineer
Todd Carder   Drum Engineering
Peter Geiser   Assistant Engineer
Michael Kaufmann   Spiritual Advisor
Mason Hull   Assistant Engineer
Brandon Peralta   Mixing Assistant
Kate Bilinski   Technical Support