Sometimes music feels like it resonates with the mood of my life or just the world around me. On this Monday after a nation-shaking moment of violence on Saturday, the title of Dark Days resonated a bit too well. The soothing acoustic guitar here and Vincent Colbert’s exceptional vocal works to bring this hatred and violence into perspective. Do give it a listen.
We featured the single “Michigan” earlier on the site and for good reason. It’s a beautiful and engaging track that will both lull you to sleep and pull you in with thoughtful lyrics. Nearly worshipful in its composition, the song brings an additional layer of backing strings that make it feel truly timeless.
The title track “Dark Days” has the same iconic Colbert acoustic guitar work. The phrasing, as always, is really well delivered making for another solid track. The lyrics are a bit unclear as to exactly what the writer’s been through, but that makes them really accessible to the listener. It’s about looking back and feeling bad about something, but having hope for the future. Isn’t that what reconciliation is all about? We can’t ignore our broken past, but we can make promises to never let it happen again. Perfect.
“Don’t Let Me Go” is a prayerfully-delivered message for a lost lover. It’s about that terrifying moment when loneliness looms. Now what? What’s going to happen? Anyone who has ever been broken up with will resonate with this powerful song. The following “Above Tree Line” is an interesting blend of natural imagery with emotional gravity. The instrumentation is a little different, allowing keys to take the main focus and the guitars accenting. I’m not a nature expert, but I think it’s a reference to being at the top of a mountain where trees can’t grow. It’s about being alone, sure, but it’s also about a sense of being lost with nowhere left to go but down.
The final track “Outlast the Sun” might be my favorite right there with “Michigan.” I’m an unapologetic fan of Colbert’s acoustic work. The way the fingerpicking rolls from line to line, phrase to phrase, really makes for a soothing yet engaging song. Again the natural imagery blends with an emotional lyrical core, making for a tried and true folk song.
I enjoyed this album quite a bit and do plan to revisit it regularly. Maybe you don’t like my connection of this music to contemporary events, but the sense of devastation and isolation in Colbert’s lyrics connected with me through this music. I am eternally grateful for the solace found in well-crafted music. There is healing in these sounds; the harmonies, melodies, and beautiful execution are part of what should remind us that love will prevail. Beauty cannot be destroyed by the broken, willful hatred of the few.
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