Dark Light Daybreak

Now It’s Overhead has more than once evoked the term “dreamy.” Dark Light Daybreak is not exactly an exception – it’s awash in the band’s signature moody layers and wall of guitar. But if the previous two records were dream-like, Dark Light Daybreak is more akin to waking up. Providing by one turn a desert-highway soundtrack, by another, a heartrending nostalgia for a moment just past the edge of memory, Dark Light Daybreak is sharp around the edges, with each song’s elements being as distinct as the whole. A syncopated beat pops against an insistent bass line. The comforting patter of a keyboard is unsettlingly punctuated by overdriven, discordant voices. And throughout, Andy LeMaster’s reedy vocals, as diverse an instrument as any on the album, are as true in a fragile harmony as they are on a soaring, cathartic chorus. Whether delivering an acidic indictment or a hopeful sentiment, voice combines with lyrics to speak the collective experience of individuals.