Released Date: June 18th, 2012
Reviewed By Court Smoots
There’s something soothing about Peaking Lights new album Lucifer, even though the title might suggest otherwise. This smooth ship of an album sails along; pulsed by a swampy bass and ultra chill beats courtesy of co-founder Aaron Coyes. If Coyes is wind to the sail then his partner in crime (and in life), Indra Dunis is found securely at the helm, steering the ships ever-meandering direction towards the greater good.
Never before have I felt the urge to get up and dance while simultaneously wanting to lie beneath bed sheets and drift off into the unknown. But that’s precisely the effect this record has on you, its move inducing while all the while cosmically calming. You never once notice that all but two songs on this record clock in at over six minutes and you don’t really care.
It’s hard for me to pick the gems off this record, partly because I think they’re all gems and partly because I kind of felt like I was listening to one continuous song, that said “Beautiful Son” left the biggest impression on me. No doubt written for Dunis and Coyes’ own son Mikko, you can’t help but feel the endless amounts of motherly love Dunis has for her baby boy while she sings “Oh Beautiful Son, Smiling Wide, Good Moring Son, Sunshine, My Little Son, Sunshine, Beautiful Son”. It’s a gift to both her young son and to herself, a sort of audio time capsule they’ll both be able to listen back to, revealing a time of youthful joy and loving admiration.
Lucifer is endearingly beautiful and not easily forgotten once it’s run its course. Those back beats stick around in your head for quite a while as Dunis’ ghostly voice haunts you for what feels like days, slowly surfacing lyrics you might not have made out at first. That’s the other thing about this record, it’s masked in such a happy haze that it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what’s going on during the first go round. But with every listen the coast get’s clearer, unveiling a beautifully crafted record before your ever eager ears.
Leave a reply