When things get heavy, when small points of stress congeal into a great weight of insurmountable sorrow, sometimes there's nothing to do but hide. But when it seems there's no hope, a piece of wise motherly advice springs to mind: "Things will look better in the morning."
That clean-slate mentality defines the first release from WATERS, the vigorously optimistic musical rebirth of Port O'Brien songwriter Van Pierszalowski. Out in the Light copes with tender and nostalgic memories, but it finds a way to look back without wallowing. With the perspective someone might gain from a long night's sleep, Pierszalowski tears through the past with clarity and resolve.
Out in the Light scorches with chunky, aggressive guitars, led by a singer who pushes his voice to its upper limits. Hints of Port O'Brien's folk-rock skeleton remain, but WATERS is emphatically a rock 'n' roll band. "O Holy Break of Day" is one of the slow-burners, simultaneously reveling in second chances and throwing caution to the wind. The song ends in a deluge of distortion, a downpour that can't help but sound like a fresh new start.
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