Lydia Luce Opens Up About Loneliness on Dark River
Cohesive while still being varied, Dark River ranges from personally intimate to grandly cinematic
Musical prowess runs through Lydia Luce’s blood. The Nashville-based singer/songwriter had a violin thrust in her hand by her mother (a professional conductor for the Ars Flores Symphony Orchestra) as soon as she was big enough to hold it. It’s lucky for us that she did—Luce’s brand of spellbinding folk is made all the better by her virtuosity as a classical musician. Her skilled incorporation of strings is the bread and butter of Dark River, a stunningly profound and personal album inspired by a harrowing breakup and subsequent trip into the mountains that allowed Luce to “sit quietly in sadness and let myself feel the deep loneliness I was trying to avoid,” per her album bio.
The album opens with “Occasionally,” a gorgeous track that flaunts Luce’s skill as a singer. Her voice shines through as evocative and emotional, effortlessly dipping down for the lower notes against the backdrop of stunning chamber pop. It’s undoubtedly one of the best tracks on an album that’s solid through and through.
The album’s title track is dominated by a driving drum beat with a dash of Americana. Luce details her past struggles with codependent relationships with lyrics like, “I hunger for affection / After pushing you away / I tend to give a little more when I am broken.” The song strikes a perfect balance between a straightforward declaration of Luce’s feelings and figurative language as she plays with the juxtaposition of light and dark.