While Kip Berman made his name in alternative music circles back in the late aughts fronting New York’s fuzzy indie-pop The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, time has moved on and so has he, as he embraced a more mature Dylan-esque alt-country as The Natvral with his 2021 solo debut, Tethers (QRO review). He keeps in that style on the swaying, enjoyable Summer of No Light.
It all starts off very strongly with single “Lucifer’s Glory” (QRO review), maybe the best note on No Light, certainly the most upbeat & active. For there’s a lot of sweet, sad sway to the record, such as the broken heart of “Stephanie Don’t Live Here Anymore”, or the wryer preceding “A Glass of Laughter”. These are not the days of shining, neo-John Hughes type hope, but accepting what the Summer is going to bring.
Released just at the end of a summer with too much light (and heat), Summer of No Light says goodbye to things past and deals with what is to come, with a crooked grin.
