Lightning Dust – Infinite Light

Infinite Light marks the return of Lightning Dust, the Vancouver based two piece consisting of Black Mounatineers Amber Webber and Joshua Wells. While 2007’s self titled album was a minimal, uniformly downbeat affair, there is an underlying positivity in evidence on Infinite Light. While for the most part the songs here are built around a base of Webber’s distinctive tremulous vocals, spacey synths, reverbed guitars and Mellotron, the band have also broadened their approach to include lush string sections and the occasional ringing chords and fluid runs of a Steinway Grand.This more layered approach to songwriting is evident on the soul pop hook of the strident ‘Wandering What Everyone Knows’. First single ‘I Knew’ gives the record a dose of adrenalin, building on an electric pulse into a fuzzy synth stomper that channels Suicide and Quasi in equal measure. This energetic spirit also appears on ‘The Times’, which is driven along by rolling congas and later by a fuzzy keyboard part. It is perhaps significant that these three highlights of the record are the shortest tracks on the album, and it seems a pity that the band didn’t develop the solid grooves that little bit further. ‘The Times’, in particular feels as if it has been cut off prematurely mid flow.While Infinite Light certainly has its highlights there are also some elements that fare less well. ‘Never Seen’ starts promisingly enough with a pretty organ progression but the multi-tracked vocals and wet drum machines make it feel very dated very quickly. Duet ‘Honest Man’ fares little better, suffering from everything and the kitchen sink production featuring choirs of angels and a huge clunking drums. One of the key issues at play here is the fact that, on occasion Webber’s vocal delivery becomes a distraction, delivering lyrics in a trill or bleat that can extend syllables over 4 or 5 notes. While some will swoon over it, I suspect that it will leave others cold.Although Infinite Light sees the band broaden their sonic palette, too often Lightning Dust resort to a melancholy kind of folk infused pop that while pleasant, merely drifts by rather than capturing the listeners attention. At times here the songs meander dangerously close to blandness, which is a tragedy considering what the band show themselves to be capable of elsewhere on the record. 62%Lightning Dust on MySpace