Woke Up
As Y Approaches Infinity
The Grand Society
The Libertine
The Trivial Pursuit Of Happiness
Parlor Games
Slow Wave
Eastern Thought
Change The Colors
Map To You
The Rise And Rise Of Daniel Rocket
Spring Tomorrow
Night’s Bright Colors, the indie-pop project of Jason Smith and Kevin Boggs, returns with the lush and layered Lanterna Magica. In 12 tracks, the album sweeps through themes both dark and bright of consciousness, the fleetingness of life, and observations of late-stage capitalism. If that sounds overly heady, it’s all deftly woven into Smith’s effervescent, accessible melodies and beats.
The collection leads with the bracing “Woke Up,” stacked with grunge guitars, drone, and dissonance — a departure from Smith’s typical song style. The anxious atmospherics give way to crisper soundscapes in “As Y Approaches Infinity” and the Brit-pop-esque march of “The Grand Society.”
“The Trivial Pursuit of Happiness” charms even as it hides a darker intent: meaningless represented by empty fa and la phrases in the hooky chorus. Most tracks contain a hidden gem or secret wink: “Parlor Games” is a retelling of the spider and the fly; the first letter of each line in “Slow Wave,” a glistening exploration of delta waves (most common during slumber) spells out ASLEEP; and “The Rise and Rise of Daniel Rocket” is inspired by the Peter Parnell play of the same name. In that track, the grungy guitars return, but here the dark drone is tempered with upward crescendos, lifting the track with purpose. If it’s not joy outright, it’s hope.
The phototropic lean toward optimism is distinctly felt in “Eastern Thought,” which builds from a simple and clean verse into a melodic crush. The guitars here are propulsive, the drums are almost aggressive filling the track with crackling electricity. “Map to You,” with its front-and-center lyrics and dancey, hand-clap vibe recalibrates the album’s energy again in this back and forth play between heavy and soft, dark and light. The final track, “Spring Tomorrow,” bookends the album and its probing of consciousness. More melodic than the lead track, it’s not without its moments of artful dissonance, and also soft lyrics that give way to an instrumental outro.
From the outset of Lanterna Magica, the quest for understanding is paired with moments of reflection. Despair meets aspiration; the dark night of the soul finds the light of dawn. It's an inspiring collection of songs that offer far more sustenance than mere pop confection.
-Alli Marshall, AM/FM Broadcast
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