Big Sky City Lights – A Mountain To Go (EP Review)

Welcome back, dear readers of Music Review World. Today’s review will feature a very fascinating act with interesting parallels, almost echoing each other as if they were a poem. Meet Big Sky City Lights.

What is that, you might ask? Well, its members, Nick Spear and Susan O’Dea, live in two completely different worlds.

She’s urban, while he’s rural.

She’s a Millennial, while he’s part of Gen X.

She’s a ‘kale chicken caesar’ kind of gal, while he’s a ‘last night’s cold pizza’ kind of guy.

However, when morphed together in the world of music, they are undeniably and effortlessly aligned. The opposing forces of their personality oddly work when one would think it wouldn’t, and the connection point for them has always been a distinct type of harmony.

Big Sky City Lights is an indie-folk duo whose dreamy, harmony-infused Americana sound is both vintage and of-the-moment. The project emerged remotely as a partnership between Susan, who’s based in New York City, and Nick, who’s based in Montana, creating unique covers of well-known songs during the 2020 lockdown.

This collaboration lead to the release of their debut full-length album, titled ‘Wake Me When We Get There’ in June 2021.

Their sound is also largely inspired by the landscapes of Montana, harnessing the dichotomy of its spaciousness and intimacy. The project’s lush harmonies and yearning melodies draw comparisons to the Civil Wars, Swell Season, the Head and the Heart, and Simon and Garfunkel. Their brand of stripped-down, cinematic folk landed them a feature on Good Morning America and garnered the attention of major music festivals, including Sisters Folk Festival and Under The Big Sky Festival on the bill with Jason Isbell, Tyler Childers, Shovels and Rope, Emmylou Harris and others.

This collaboration sounds extremely unexpected yet promising. Let’s explore their newest release, an EP titled ‘A Mountain To Go’

Upon listening to this album, I definitely hear the appeal of this act. I’m usually pretty stringent when it comes to music and musical variability- but there is one key factor that can absolve an act of this factor of needing to sound like Nandipha808 or John Cage. A deep, earnest musicality that is fairly easy for one to recognise and resonate with.

The combination of two of their voices is extremely striking and pleasing to my ears. It’s not a ‘cookie-cutter’ timbre behind their voices. If pictures speak a thousand words, sound speaks a billion more. Both of their voices ooze a sense of emotional depth, hardship, desire, delicateness as well as a sense of maturity. I’ve genuinely never heard such a stellar combination before in my life. Susan’s voice is delightfully strong, possessing not just a strong quality, but a lower tone and a richness with that tone. Her voice itself acts as the main instrument in most of these tracks on this release. The notes of Nick’s voice sincerely contrast her bold and deep tone quite well, intersecting with it like a wonderfully melodious flute. Together, they have the star quality and the musical quality of a cinematic soundtrack. This is quite rare to achieve with merely voice alone.

The instrumentation on this release is pretty varied, ranging from a country-rock soundscape to a strippe down acoustic soundscape that is extremely pleasing and soothing. The composition of all of these tracks are actually not necessarily that mindblowing, but I can say that they’re composed with utmost intent and passion, making it where you can hear each stem of the track potently and beautifully with the voices of the artists.

In terms of mastering, there are absolutely zero issues with this EP. All the instruments are panned, mastered and embellished quite well. This makes it where this album will make you feel like you’re ‘living’ through the experience of listening to this album, instead of just treating it like a detached experience.

There is also an evident theme of Americana and American-influenced instrumentation throughout this album, which would definitely appeal and make this album stand out even more if you have a personal soft spot for such genres.

Overall, a decent listen!

Score/Good: Big Sky City Lights harnesses the true prowess of two opposites, singing in unison and gracing the listener with wonderfully deep and rich harmonies. They go in the form of a cinematic ballad at times, all within the umbrella of Americana-influenced thematic genres. A decent listen that can make you feel nostalgic, too.

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