Personnel: Meara OReilly, Ann McCrary, Regina McCrary (vocals); Windy Dankoff (flute, bass flute); Matt Henry Cunitz (celesta, pump organ, Mellotron); Jessica Ruffins (bass guitar); Otto Hauser (drums, percussion).

Arrangers: Naybob Shineywater; Rachael Hughes.

On their self-titled debut for Matador Records, Brightblack Morning Light offered an American roots-infused take on My Bloody Valentine's warm drones, cutting through the maelstrom with touches of gospel, country, and soul. On MOTION TO REJOIN, the New Mexico-via-Alabama duo of Rachael Hughes and Nathan Shineywater continue to gaze not at their shoes, but rather at the star-flecked big sky that hangs over the American landscape. "Hologram Buffalo" and "Oppressions Each" sound like codeine-soaked Stax ballads heard from beyond the next mesa, while "Summer Hoof" is arguably the one and only ambient soul-jazz jam ever recorded. The duo owe an undeniable debt to Spiritualized, yet Brightblack Morning Light also dig through the dirt to get at the original source.

If you thought the first two Brightblack Morning Light records were adrift in a sea of languidity, you won't be surprised by the third -- unless, of course, you'd think that after being begged to add some variety to their sound, the duo would pull back from the brink. Proving themselves perfectly immune to criticism, Brightblack Morning Light do nothing but chill out yet farther on Motion to Rejoin. Recorded in the secluded New Mexico desert with many self-enforced limitations -- most notable of which is the restriction of studio power to direct solar radiation (aka daylight) -- Rachael Hughes and Naybob Shineywater have fashioned another record that cobbles together eight tracks from what seems like a maximum of two or three different grooves. The duo and their compatriots nonetheless continue to sound great, even if their music's true aim is nothing more than relaxation or meditation. Hughes' Rhodes piano and Shineywater's Silvertone guitar or Hohner clavinet amble through the album, calling up the ghosts of the American Southwest (and South), even as they veer yet closer to nearer descendants like Talk Talk and Spiritualized. The lyrics, when they occur, offer encomiums to natural living (naturally) with the occasional warning of the modern world's perils (a sampling: "I still live by the river in a little tent," "I see the places where the tee-pee once was risen," "Nobody wants oppression," "Keep the spirit clean and let the high times roll"). Brightblack Morning Light's intentions and actions are indeed admirable -- they're committed advocates of much more than just drug legalization -- but Motion to Rejoin struggles mightily to articulate a focus aside from tranquility. ~ John Bush