Aurora Birch‘s “Brightness” crept up on me. Almost without warning word of the album began to explode in my news feeds on social media from mutual friends sharing and spouting its praises. Upon listening, I couldn’t share the same sentiment any stronger.
to deem a thing a river is to say it never ends
the mighty mississippi has no little fleeting friends
if i were to look, if i were to look with an older set of eyes
i would see more things as rivers, for i’d live to their demise
After a few solid listens through, the third track, “Semantics“, sticks with me again and again. The singer-songwriter’s voice engaging in a soaring, weighty battle with the strings of the arrangement. A battle that the singer’s voice engages with power and fortitude.
There lies this certain, poignant balance in this track (and the record as a whole) that is struck so incredibly well and is often incredibly difficult to accomplish. That balance between something that is rocking and forceful in a way that hits you hard enough to stick, but alongside a gentle temperance on the same token that makes you feel the music, truly feel, the words that the writer part of an artist wants you to grasp and hold onto. Birch does that and then some and I think this record that crept up on me managed to creep its way onto the list of the best things I have heard all year.
Check out the track below and be sure to pick this record up today.