Lightleak

Dustin Henry Currier is a Chicago musician and songwriter who has at various times played with rock groups like Cut Teeth, Ands, The Felix Culpa, etc. This umbrella serves to house all projects where Currier sits in the creative driver's seat and includes a solo album, instrumental experiments, works for film and video, and other as-yet-unknown ventures. On his first album, Courier, the goal was to explore an identity as a solo artist—all the instruments were performed by dear old DHC and it was recorded all on his lonesome. After this solitary endeavor, it was clear that the Lower Powers EP should be a more collaborative effort. By enlisting the help of some trusted associates, the resulting songs on this three-song treat illustrate a cosmic push-and-pull between exuberance and gloom as they revel in the high majesty of existence, even through its lows. The songs on Lower Powers are evidence of Currier's intention to distill a disparate set of musical interests—from angular D.C. punk to sad bastard singer-songwriters to colossal orch-pop—into something new that would somehow make perfect sense. Blaring over the traditional core of guitars, bass, keyboards, and drums is a small but mighty horn section which serves to confirm that yes, life is a never-ending toga party (and you're all invited) while the guitars nimbly dance around the subject. Additional vocalists Bob Nanna, Amy Myers, and Paul Karner comprise the so-called Yah Yah Choir which help to define the EP's spirit of communal suffering and celebration. Lower Powers is a buoyant recognition of the absurdity of being human. It critiques the appeal of an afterlife, laments the quietude of a rock group's absence, and praises love through divorce. It believes in what is here in front of us and encourages all to bob their heads and air drum accordingly.