I prepared to listen to Adrianne Lenker's latest release, 'Bright Future.' By this, I mean that I intentionally carved out space/time to marinate in nothing but this record - for the first time, from start to finish. Adrianne is one of my favorite songwriters, after all. She also might be one of the best songwriters of our generation.
I made sure to find a quiet moment, I searched for my headphones, and I sured up my environment so it would be impervious to interruption. I wanted to hear every syllable sung, every string plucked, every intentional and unintentional moment. I assumed that what I would hear would be beautiful. I also assumed that I'd learn something about myself - Adrianne's songwriting tends to do that to me.
The first song, "Real House," blooms, slowly, leaving you no choice but to jump aboard every word she slowly strings together before you.
That focus and clarity continues throughout the record, and I found myself in lock-step with her imagery, with her new found love, with her loss and her confusion, with her childhood memories, and her freshly healed scars. Maybe we're all afraid of the same things. Maybe we're all looking to be seen, accepted, loved - maybe even unconditionally so. Maybe we're learning to love ourselves the same.
The album drips in honesty and feels like a radical call for self-love. Adrianne's honesty captures emotions that we feel but are often afraid to admit we do. With this record, she makes vulnerability (and her ability to articulate that vulnerability) seem like a stroll around the block, but it can't be. She also continues to prove that she can articulate in a language that is more like the blood in our veins rather than a language we could learn. 'Bright Future' is her best work yet.
Rating - 5/5