Steve Gunn: Daylight Daylight

"Much of this is due to the way Gunn's melodies dapple and drift in and out of shadow, a quality Elkington's arrangements underscore. Isolate the acoustic-guitar clang in "Nearly There" and you might hear the opening chime of Primal Scream's "Movin' on Up." Drop it back in among Elkington's strings, which have the diffused beauty of sunlight seen through a squint, and they take on a disarming sweetness."

""Morning on K Road" was written after he spent a serendipitous afternoon with Hamish Kilgour of legendary New Zealand indie-rock legends the Clean shortly before his death in 2022. The pair, who had known one another in New York, ran into one another on the street in Auckland. Images of the day flicker through the lyrics like memories dissolving ("Painted leather jacket when you were crossing the street") in the warmth of Gunn's strumming and the downy bed of strings."

Songs on Daylight Daylight emphasize subtlety and intimacy, often feeling as if performed for a single listener. Gunn's melodies dapple and drift in and out of shadow, and Elkington's arrangements underscore those textures with diffused strings that lend a sunlight-through-a-squint quality. Isolated acoustic-guitar clangs can recall other iconic chimes while integrated string beds turn them sweet. "Morning on K Road" was written after a serendipitous afternoon with Hamish Kilgour; images flicker through lyrics like memories dissolving amid warm strumming and a downy bed of strings. Much of the record balances domestic restraint with a majestic, theater-ready scale and frequently carries a sense of finality.

Read at Pitchfork