LIGHTNING DUST play the Drake Hotel on September 10. Rating: NNN
Amber Webber and Joshua Wells have once again set aside the tambourines and drum kits they use in Black Mountain to pursue more solemn, ultra-minimalist sounds as Lightning Dust. On their third album, the Vancouver duo let go of earlier campfire-folk tendencies for a downtempo electronic style few of us expected.
But killer opening track Diamond, with its retro familiarity and slow-building hooks, dispels any doubts about their abilities as a synth pop band. Unfortunately, no other song matches it until stunning, emotive Agatha near the album’s end. On it, Wells brings in new orchestral-goth elements, while Webber moves into her higher range. A majorly exciting evolution.
In between, Webber’s distinct plaintive vibrato never lets us down but also never lets up. Wells delivers interesting textures and arrangements but also keeps things so spare that climaxes rarely happen. Final tune Never Again brings things to a strong close.
Top track: Agatha
