Lightning Dust : Nostalgia Killer

Lightning Dust started as the electronic/pop side project of Black Mountain members Amber Webber and Joshua Wells, but after 2016s IV, Webber and Wells left the Canadian psych/prog behemoth permanently so they could concentrate on other things, including Lightning Dust.

The band released the excellent and more Gothic-tinged Spectre in 2019, the same year that the two at the core of the band ended their long time romantic partnership. Fortunately this didn’t mean the end of artistic partnership as Lightning Dust, otherwise that would have meant we’d never gotten their excellent new album Nostalgia Killer.

Nostalgia Killer is Lightning Dust at their very best; gorgeous melodies, haunting lyrics, and touches of psych, pop, prog, and 70s-meets-the-now sonic palette. Despite the ending of their romantic partnership, Amber Webber and Joshua Wells have kept the artistic one as engaging and passionate as ever.

There’s a mixture of thoughtful, baroque pop interspersed with shots of proggy synths and heavy guitars. As always Amber Webber’s voice is the star here. Vocally Webber sounds better than ever with something like album opener “Wrecked” showing Webber in perfect form. Locking into what sounds like if Stevie Nicks got obsessed with PJ Harvey’s Rid of Me. “Run” is a gorgeous, urgent ballad that builds to an 80s-inspired pop rock chug. Wells builds a perfect sonic landscape for Webber’s voice to shine. “Rapids and Rivers” builds over subtle sonic shifts and a wall-of-sound approach that leads into a grand, psych-heavy 70s Moog bit.

Elsewhere “Fallen New” is a low key, electric piano-led track with touches of Besnard Lakes and hints of Kate Bush in Amber Webber’s delivery. “Feel That” is another Fender Rhodes-led song, sparse in instrumentation and the vocals front and center. “Shadow of Verona” ends the album on a lush note; piano, synth, and layered vocals that give the song a majestic feel.

Despite Lightning Dust’s Webber and Wells’ ending their romantic partnership, their artistic one continues to thrive and bare fruit. Nostalgia Killer is their best album yet.