Bess Atwell – ‘Light Sleeper’ album review: a beautiful but safe effort
THE SKINNY: Bess Atwell has one of those voices where she could be singing a shopping list over a gentle acoustic instrumental, and it would be lovely and listenable. For fans of light songs packed full of poetic lyrics and tender emotions, sung by an angelic and effortless vocal, she’s easily up there with the best of them. But with ten tracks, all coloured with the same soft colours, Atwell is relegated to ‘nice’ when she deserves to be ‘great’.
Because, really, everything about the build of Light Sleeper is great. The collaboration between Atwell and Aaron Dessner is a perfect combination. Dessner’s experience feels custom-made for an artist like her, combining the accessible and confessional sensibilities of Taylor Swift with the cinematic air of The National. With his production hand, the songs are polished till they sparkle, with instrumentals that swell just the right around but never crowd her voice, instead acting like a nest for the lyricism that leads the way.
Those lyrics are perfect, too, existing in the golden round between richly poetic and spontaneously intimate. “At least if no one else does, I know what I mean,” she sings on ‘The Weeping’, dedicating her words to codified personal symbols. But as she balances those small and specific things with plain-speaking declarations, Atwell manages to nail the language of pure emotion perfectly. Lines like, “I think everyone who’s not in love with you is wrong” or “I don’t want to let you love me until you don’t save your forevers for someone else” would exist in personal diaries or Shakespeare’s sonnets. When she puts it plainly, she captures this sense that sometimes the only way to say something is to just say it. In those moments, it’s like a glorious exhale turned into a sigh of beauty.
However, there’s a lingering feeling that Light Sleeper is somehow too polished. It’s somehow too perfect in that it doesn’t take enough risks. Dessner largely prefers to work in a fast-paced manner, encouraging artists to let go, do fewer takes, and embrace the emotion of performance. It might be expected that that process alone might birth a more dynamic record, but it feels like while they have absolutely nailed and captured the beauty and poetry of Atwell’s work, it hasn’t been pushed anywhere different.
As her third album, Atwell has already more than established that she is an incredible musician and singer. For her fans or fans of singer-songwriter music, ten more songs of her artistry will be a treat. But as the album exists as this gentle and pristine thing, it plays it too safe. It feels like a clear sky, clean bedding, vanilla candles. It’s nice, always pleasant and truly beautiful, but Atwell is talented enough to be more gripping and dynamic. So, while Light Sleeper is flawless, it should have risked having some flaws by making bolder, bigger and more interesting choices.
For fans of: Playlists titled things like ‘tender acoustic mornings’.
A concluding comment from a less lyrically engaged listener: “Why are you listening to the same song over and over?”
Light Sleeper track by track
Release date: May 24th | Producer: Aaron Dessner | Label: Real Kind Records
‘Everyone Who’s Not In Love With You Is Wrong’: Bess Atwell walks you into her tender album with one of the softest tracks. “And I think everyone who’s not in love with you is wrong” is the most gorgeous lyric. It’s a line that would span love letters to diary entries to sonnets as a reminder that sometimes only plain English can capture huge emotions. [4.5/5]
‘Release Myself’: ‘Release Myself’ picks up into the most hi-octane this gentle record ever really hits. As the whole band swells around her, expertly conducted by The National’s Aaron Dessner, the focus is still captured by her angelic voice. [4/5]
‘Sylvester’: The beautiful instrumentals on this song scream again and again how perfect the collaboration between Atwell and Dessner is. Just as how he’s used to creating platforms for Matt Berninger’s storytelling, he expertly does the same here. [3.5/5]
‘Fan Favourite’: The change in tone recaptures attention enough to prevent the gentleness from falling into background noise. Lyrically, her consideration of letting go and acceptance here is a beautiful vignette that shines a light on something all too often painful. [4/5]
‘The Weeping’: Somewhere between pure poetry and a deeply intimate diary entry, the mixing of the consideration of art and the spontaneity of a personal outpouring makes this a lyrical standout. [4/5]
‘Something Now’: Once again, the tone is changed, this time for a more seductive indie flavour. These little twists keep the album fresh enough, but at a certain point it becomes difficult to stay engaged with the sheer amount of lyrics on the album. [3/5]
‘Spinning Sun’: As the gentle acoustic guitar returns with its delicately placed full-band elements, there’s a slight lingering feeling that even after several listens around, it would be hard to differentiate some songs from the other as they threaten to merge into one. Sure, that one would be beautiful, but for new listeners looking for more intrigue, they’d be lost. [3/5]
‘I Am Awake’: The lyrics remain front and centre, but this time round, they grab your attention quickly and easily for another standout effort with a stunning chorus line. [4.5/5]
‘Crowds’: “Warm up my crowds and come back to the same hotel”, Atwell sings, considering the monotony of artistry and the strange routines of the road. This different and specific story adds something interesting and different right as the record starts to get a little exhaustive. [4/5]
‘Light Sleeper’: Randomly, this last track introduces synths, an instrument not heard elsewhere on the album. It’s a refreshing decision, but comes a little too late in the game. [3/5]
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