Brightblack Morning Light - CD review

SOUL

Hippies are an irritating bunch, with their incessant roaming, flower-filled barnets and happy clappy music . . . yet this extraordinary debut may just tempt you over to the tree-hugging side. Brightblack Morning Light are Californian duo Nathan D ‘Nabob’ Shineywater and Rachel ‘Rabob’ Hughes; both prone to bouts of camping, unkempt hair and communal living in cabins, yet blessed with a distinctive sound fuelled by whispered vocals, woozy guitars, dreamy horns, shimmering bells, tablas and the honeyed tones of a vintage Rhodes piano. The songs here range from 60-second glimpses to ten-minute trips and owe as much to Spiritualized or Isaac Hayes as they do Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy or Joanna Newsome.