Review Summary: There will be a time when darkness releases its hold to give place to light
Alice in Chains, one of the grunge’s (for now we will assume it is a thing) Big Four, was always different from its contemporaries. The darkness permeating their sound was always full of demons tearing at each bandmember and breathing down their necks. It was most prominent in the lives of Layne Staley and [L]Jerry Cantrell, the guitarist and one of the main visionaries of Alice in Chains.
The darkness was there for a long time, leaving its imprint on the band’s classic albums as well as the scarce solo discography of Jerry Cantrell. It continued until 2002, when the pressure reached its peak on the darkest, heaviest, and most challenging
Degradation Trip. In addition to his own issues, Jerry was also going through the end of his band and the passing of his friend and bandmate Layne Staley.
Almost 20 years later, Cantrell released his third solo album with an unexpectedly life-affirming title,
Brighten. And this lighter mood was not something anybody expected from him.
For those familiar with the Alice in Chains catalog,
Brighten may be a complete surprise (it was for me). However, after some thinking and a retrospective look back, it becomes clear that the appearance of light is not as unexpected.
Let’s take a look at the second part of the Alice in Chains history.
Black Gives Way to Blue, while preserving much of the heaviness and signature elements, sounded somewhat different, as its darkness was unlike before. On
The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here, the darkness continued its retreat, and lighter moments were more noticeable there.
Rainer Fog contained glimpses of optimism, something unthinkable before. And this leads us to the conclusion that
Brighten could not have sounded any other way.
The new solo album is no longer saturated with darkness. It is as if the time has come to make up one’s mind and atone for one's sins, and this is what we see on the eponymous track. Yes, there is still some trepidation and agitation about the future, but Jerry looks into it with hope, possibly for the first time in many years.
And this light permeates almost every track on the record, which is what surprises the most.
Obviously, this is reflected in the sound. Jerry develops further those elements that we have already seen in his arsenal. Practically all cuts have a slight pop flair that we encountered before on
The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here, on such tracks as
Voices or
Low Ceiling. In addition, acoustic guitars (hello
Jar of Flies!) are more pronounced, and country elements are used a lot more extensively, like on the eponymous Alice in Chains album from 1995 and Jerry’s first solo record,
Boggy Depot.
Due to all of this,
Brighten turned out to be something new for Cantrell and at the same time a logical progression of his sound. Yes, some of the tracks would feel right at home on an Alice in Chains album, but this is unsurprising given the role Jerry Cantrell plays in the band. On the other hand, there are not too many of those.
So, if you are interested in listening to a man whose darkness finally started to let him go, give it a spin – Jerry Cantrell’s new record. All we have to do now is to delight in the fact that his not-so-large discography has added yet another great album.
