Based around understated folk guitars, gentle vocals and just the merest hint of more ambient and indie sonics to help create a wonderfully fluid platform behind them, Shining Out is a master class in getting to the very essence of a song. There are songs full of delicacy and grace, such as the carefully crafted My Girl and there are bigger moments, as in My Love Regardless’ breezy brass and bigger beats. And it is only on an album built this slightly, this purposefully, that you appreciate the subtle sonic distances between them.
Caitlin is so perfectly paced and deftly composed that it puts me in mind of the likes of Damien Rice, which is about as high a compliment I give when talking about such acoustic music. If you are a fan of him head straight to the closing song Tenement Stacks for more music infused with the same minimalist grandeur. Where I’m Going is a thing of rare beauty, blending scintillating, finger-picked grooves with quirky, old-time moves and yet it sounds nothing less than a song for the here-and-now.
It’s a gorgeous album, somehow timeless yet modern. How does he do that?
