Juliana Daugherty's Stunning Debut LIGHT Out Today via Western Vinyl

It's hard to imagine that Daugherty's softness and subtlety could materialize amid the tumult of current-day Charlottesville, Virginia, but every mode of being continues there, as it does elsewhere, despite the impressions headlines might give. Political outrage seems to inhabit every mental space in modernity implying that the most important problems are the most visible. Societal ills being what they are, private struggles still exist - 'Light' gives them palatable, manageable, and satisfying form.

Initially walking in the footsteps of her trumpeter and violist father and mother, Daugherty grew up playing multiple instruments, even attending a conservatory before stepping away from classical music entirely.

She went on to acquire an MFA in poetry - a fact not lost on 'Light'. In many ways, poetry seems to be another musical instrument on the record, deepening the mood instead of merely floating atop it.

'Light' is out today on Western Vinyl and was captured in the Virginia countryside by producer Colin Killalea who is known for his work with Albert Hammond Jr and Natalie Prass.

NYLON "captivating...The perfect soundtrack to romanticize dreary days, Player is a gorgeously minimal work, imbued with hypnotic, slow-plodding progressions bolstered by minimal embellishment and an aura of humble authenticity."

NPR "Like the minimalist and monotone hypnosis of early Spoon and Cat Power, the song moves at a dramatic pace without breaking its stride; fixated on a destination, but with an end unknown to the listener."

BROOKLYN VEGAN "...fluttery Laurel Canyon folk mode over a down-strummed guitar and a beat that sounds like it could've been plucked from an Aphex Twin song"

STEREOGUM "Undergirded by a steady metronomic pulse that sounds like someone pounding on an acoustic guitar, fervent but understated electric chords carry along Daugherty's haunting narration as droning melodic accents subtly bleed into the mix."

HYPE MACHINE "Songs gently sway and swell with understated narrative and unwavering purpose."

UPROXX "Daugherty writes with chilling depth and easily enviable eloquence"

RIYL Sharon Van Etten, Julien Baker, Cat Power

Photo Credit: Tom Daly