Let In the Light

iTunes Review

Shannon Wright is blessed with a melodic sensibility that is decidedly more sophisticated than many of her immediate contemporaries. After a few seconds of Let In The Light’s opening track, “Defy This Love” one might be tempted to dismiss Wright as another whispery-voiced piano balladeer, a Tori Amos for the indie set, but soon Wright’s hushed Satie-like piano runs, abstruse lyricism, and unconventional vocal melodies alert the listener that something more substantive is afoot. Indeed, Let In the Light sees Wright finally admitting to her melodic gifts. On previous releases she would indulge in scorched-earth blues and bursts of cathartic amelodicism as if self-consciously attempting to distance herself from the coffee-shop folk crowd that might otherwise attempt to claim her. But songs such as the gem-like “Louise” and the raga-ish “In the Morning” see Wright reconciled with her own melodic acumen. Clearly the experience has been a liberating one for Wright: Let In The Light fuses Brechtian Cabaret, dust-blown folk and strains of classical melodicism into what is undoubtedly Wright’s finest album to date.