Amythyst Kiah -- Still + Bright
On Still + Bright, Amythist Kiah firmly steps into her voice with a matter-of-fact pride.
On her most personal album yet, Amythyst Kiah stuns with the force of her power on Still + Bright. Now, it's not that Kiah's previous music isn't intense. But Wary + Strange and Dig were largely impressionistic; gale forces of emotion, abstract imagery, and illusion. On Still + Bright, it seems that Kiah is firmly stepping into her voice and opening her world up to others – not with vulnerability, but with a matter-of-fact pride. This is who Kiah is, what she thinks, and if you don't like it then get it out of her way.
The opening track "Play God and Destroy the World" presents the album's thesis with a commanding tone. Joined by SG Goodman, Kiah roundly condemns the hypocrisy of evangelical Christians and the sterility and alienation of American suburban life. She offers "Empire of Love" as an alternative: a rejection of white supremacy, homophobia, and suppressing oneself in order to fit in. Rather, Kiah commits to showing up for herself as a form of showing up for others – and invites us to do the same.
But love isn't always enough, as Kiah hammers home again and again in songs like "Die Slowly Without Complaint," "Gods Under the Mountain," and "People's Prayer." With collaborators like Billy Strings, Avi Kaplan, and producer Butch Walker, Kiah builds an atmospheric swirl of electronic omens, vengeful guitars, and righteous mandolins. Kiah argues that to be from the South – and to truly appreciate it – is to embrace a history of repression and resistance against those who treat us as disposable: whether that be slavers, factory bosses, strike breakers, or would-be autocrats.
