Produced by Butch Walker (Taylor Swift, Green Day, Weezer) and recorded at his Nashville studio, Amythyst Kiah’s latest album Still + Bright explores the vast expanse of her inner world: her deep-rooted affinity for Eastern philosophies & spiritual traditions, a near-mystical connection with the natural world, the life lessons learned in her formative years as a self-described “anime-nerd mall goth.” In dreaming up the backdrop to her revelatory storytelling, Amythyst & Walker arrived at a darkly cinematic & exhilarating twist on the rootsy alt-rock of her 2021 breakthrough album Wary + Strange, an LP that landed on Rolling Stone’s list of the 25 Best Country & Americana Albums of 2021 and drew acclaim from major outlets like Pitchfork. With its sonic palette encompassing everything from fuzzed-out guitars & industrial-leaning beats to gilded pedal steel and Kiah’s exquisitely graceful banjo work, Still + Bright fully affirms her as an artist of both daring originality & uncompromising depth. On Wary + Strange, Kiah offered up a collection of spellbinding songs detailing her experience with grief & trauma & alienation, each illuminating the extraordinary impact of her songwriting. An electrifying showcase for her singular musicality and soul-stirring voice, Kiah’s Rounder Records debut soon found many leading critics hailing her as a formidable new talent, adding to a list of accolades that includes earning a Grammy nomination for her powerhouse anthem “Black Myself.” But when it came time to create her follow-up, the Tennessee-born singer/songwriter felt compelled toward a profound shift in her artistry. Although Kiah’s third full-length marks a departure from the anguished emotionality of its predecessor (an album informed by losing her mother to suicide at age 17), Kiah imparts all of Still + Bright with a hypnotic intensity born from boldly stating her convictions. All throughout Still + Bright, she reveals her rare ability to spin her fascinations into songs uncovering essential truths about human nature. The making of Still + Bright involved a careful transformation of the songwriting process she adopted after composing her first song on a Fender acoustic at age 13. The latest turn in a dynamic career that’s included joining Our Native Daughters (an all-women-of-color supergroup also featuring Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla, & friend of the program, Allison Russell), the album marks her 1st time opening up her approach and working with co-writers, including punk legend Tim Armstrong, Sadler Vaden (a guitarist/vocalist for Jason Isbell’s 400 Unit), former Pentatonix member Avi Kaplan, and Sean McConnell (a singer/songwriter who’s also written with Brittney Spencer & Bethany Cosentino). While Still + Bright undoubtedly finds Kiah pushing into new emotional and musical terrain, the album also makes for a vital new addition to a body of work largely dedicated to exploring the struggle and joy of true self-discovery.
I had the pleasure of chatting with Amythyst before she makes her way to the Madison area performing a solo event at the Mineral Point Opera House on September 5th. We start of talking about what the solo thang looks/sounds like. It seems like a great opportunity to really get to know the person and the art. We get into the creating of and change in writing approach while working with partners for the making of ‘Still + Bright, and dissect two songs, one of which, ‘Empire Of Love’ is a song I am so excited to see/feel live. How did she get to work with Moby you wonder? Answered here and when I stop and put myself in her shoes I get that goosebumpy feeling. Before wrapping up our conversation, I was curious as to where she found herself gaining a personal inspiration or feeling on contentment while putting the songs on “Still + Bright” toGether and we end up finding something we definitely both have in common…Mother Nature for the win.
