Debra Fotheringham

Debra Fotheringham – The Darkness and the Sun

In fall 2017, Debra Fotheringham released her first solo album of original material since Time, an EP from 2010. Fotheringham, also an essential voice in the Lower Lights, describes the period between solo releases as a time of hibernation or “woodshedding,” time spent listening to other music. Though her experiences as a solo artist are different than Christensen’s, her new album The Darkness and the Sun is a creative breakthrough similar to his Sad Songs, and the two albums share several themes.

As a singer, Fotheringham possesses a clarity and purity characteristic of singers like Karen Carpenter, Iris DeMent, Mimi Parker, and Nina Persson. While she’s lost none of her melodic quality, Fotheringham explores subject matters on The Darkness and the Sun that bring a new depth to her identity as an artist. In interviews she cites Maria Bamford’s creative process as an inspiration for her own path to creating these songs. This citation of a seemingly leftfield inspiration was also a feature of Promised Land, the 2016 LP from Lower Lights member (and Darkness and the Sun contributor) Ryan Tanner, who credited Charlie Kaufman’s 2011 BAFTA screenwriters’ lecture as the catalyst for that work.

Fotheringham begins her album with “Stranger in a Strange Land”, which subtly interacts with Tanner’s photography and art direction that isolates the singer in black-and-white landscapes. The lyrics position the singer outside of physical interaction and verbal communication, longing for things that are “all just out of reach”. “Stranger in a Strange Land” is a variation on an emotional state similar to the one explored in Christensen’s “Waiting for the Magic”, and this song also invites the listener to see how that emotional state develops across this album.

The Darkness and the Sun has the feeling of being front-loaded, because the first three tunes are the most memorable material on the album. On “Drive Across the Desert”, Fotheringham’s delivery and the band’s wide-open execution perfectly convey the journey mapped in the lyrics. Sonically, “White Bird” is the most interesting song on the album. Scott Wiley, the album’s producer/engineer/mixer, previously worked with Elliott Smith, and the use of Smith-like doubled/panned vocals enhances Fotheringham’s lyrics that vacillate between stasis and flight.

The title track of The Darkness and the Sun pairs with Christensen’s “Let Mercy Find Me”. But the shore imagined here isn’t so merciful. Here Fotheringham addresses a figure or force that is nothing and everything and of whom her “hope to reach your shore always failed.” “The Darkness and the Sun” seems to allude to the conflicts and contradictions Fotheringham says she had on her mind while developing the album. “Sometimes the Wolf” examines additional dualities that have left the song’s character cynical and disappointed.

“Get Back” serves a crucial function on The Darkness and the Sun, because here the character in the song begins to move, temporarily, from despondency to hope, or from solitude to reconciliation. The defining phrase is, “all the reasons that I had to say why / I was saying goodbye / all sound like lies”. In an album full of wonderful backing vocals, it seems significant that there are no other voices present on “Get Back” or “Apologies,” as these songs concern the self, and selfishness, respectively.

“Winter that Will Never Come” directly involves Christensen in that he’s featured as the backing vocalist. But beyond that direct connection, the song engages with the theme of waiting that permeates Sad Songs. Yet once again, Fotheringham’s use of the theme results in a decidedly more ambiguous, likely downbeat, conclusion than Christensen’s album-closer “Ruler of Your Heart.”

This conclusion is what most distinguishes The Darkness and the Sun as a new direction for Fotheringham. On “You Elude Me”, from 2010’s Time, she declared, “I’ll never give up this dream / Though you elude me.” At present she’s not prepared to wait much longer to connect. Instead she’s “thinking hard about skipping town”; a product of her doubt and perhaps also a way out from her sad songs. - popmatteres.com

November 30, 2017

Americana meets sweet melancholy in The Darkness and the Sun by local singer-songwriter Debra Fotheringham. In just nine tracks, Fotheringham perfectly packages modern Americana, country and a little bit of folk. While Fotheringham is typically a solo artist, she welcomes guest performances to round out the simple, moderately paced, soothing ambience of the album.

The Darkness and the Sun opens with “Stranger in a Strange Land,” a dreamy folk-like number. Soft acoustic picking begins while M. Horton Smith plays a handful of soft electric strums, reverberating only slightly, leaving an airy echo behind. Fotheringham begins to sing, “Four eyes filled with embers / They lock and they’re aflame,” and as she progresses to the next line, Ryan Tanner quietly joins with low notes on the piano. The song is mellow, with “ooh”-ing backup vocals, but is complex, subtly swarming with varying instruments like the bass, drums, pedal steel and synths.

The album’s title track is rhythmically slow-going, steadily introducing the piano and then the electric guitar, with Nicole Pinnell bowing on the cello, Scott Wiley on the bass and Paul Jacobsen on the Wurlitzer, offering backup vocals. Fotheringham and friends fill the songs with delicate instrumental rises and falls, showcasing the vocals and never overwhelming the song.

While “Sometimes the Wolf” isn’t a quick-paced song, it moves like an Old West warning ballad. Beginning with high-pitched acoustic strums, and Fotheringham singing high-to-low notes, the song twangs in the distance. Subtle sound from the synths and djembe offer a modern take on an old country song. Tracks like “Apologies” walk the country line, too, but more classically with noticeably heavier bass and the electric guitar, which slides through high notes and reverbs funkily alongside the piano.

Country-style charm radiates through each song as Fotheringham and the band generate depth and rich expressiveness from start to end. The Darkness and the Sun is thoughtfully produced, from each vocal and lyrical pause to every shift sound. Fotheringham captures the heart of Americana and country through the decades, while adding her personal flair and skill to each well-crafted song. –Lizz Corrigan - SLUG Magazine

November 26, 2017

Debra Fotheringham has been dishing out fresh throwback jams from her home-base of Utah for awhile now. And, her latest album is perhaps her greatest masterpiece yet. It flows like the Green River and pierces the heart in an instant. It's absolutely beautiful my friends.

The metamorphosis ensues.

And now, here is the poignant and gospel-esque "White Bird" off of her newest album, "The Darkness & The Sun".

Give it a gander folks. - Santa Rosa Records

October 4, 2017

By Court Mann (Daily Herald)

In July 2014, the New York Times Magazine published “The Weird, Scary and Ingenious Brain of Maria Bamford.” The piece, a profile on one of Hollywood’s strangest, most neurotic up-and-coming comedians, delves into how Bamford handles her fragile mental health. Through ticks, books, medications, therapists, psychiatrists, etc., Bamford has constructed a framework in which she can operate. And for her, the through-line is a simple mantra: “Do the work.” (sometimes extended to “just do the work.”)

Debra Fotheringham, an American Fork musician known for her work in The Lower Lights, had stopped writing music — the result of some tough artistic feedback and the consequent discouragement. Reading this New York Times profile, though, something clicked.

“I found that really inspiring, and I took it to heart,” Fotheringham explained during a recent phone interview. “Every morning I’d get up and just start writing — not necessarily songs, just stream of consciousness-type stuff — and it helped me get into a writer’s mindset. And pretty soon I just started writing songs. It was just a matter of taking it seriously enough to make the time for it.”

Her creative floodgates opened. The result, a nine-song album titled “The Darkness and the Sun,” is Fotheringham’s first album of original songs since 2010. She’ll debut the album Friday at the Fort Douglas Post Theatre in Salt Lake City.

Like its title, “The Darkness and the Sun” feels simultaneously warm and melancholy. Friends and acquaintances, many from The Lower Lights, serve as Fotheringham’s backing band. Their arrangements are tastefully subtle, with an undeniable undercurrent of musical expertise. (Contributors include Marcus Bently, Fictionist drummer Aaron Anderson, as well as June Audio owner Scott Wiley and fellow Lower Lights members Paul Jacobsen, Ryan Tanner and Mark Smith.) And at the center of these Americana-influenced tunes is Fotheringham’s rich and deeply expressive vocal caress.

Fotheringham had dove into the music of Dolly Parton, as well as other old country music legends, in recent years. That influence shows through.

“I always thought the more complicated the chords, the more serious the music,” she said with a laugh. “But as I’ve been listening to these great old songwriters, I’ve realized it doesn’t really have anything to do with that. It’s all about the heart of the song, and how it speaks to you, or to the people listening to it.”

If there’s a persistent theme through “The Darkness and the Sun,” she said, it’s learning to see the world in a new way. Over the past few years, Fotheringham said she’s abandoned many long-held notions of how the world works. Things aren’t black and white, and people don’t always fit neatly into archetypes. That realization is cathartic, but not without its anxieties.

“Nobody has the answers. And even your idols, your mentors, they are still floundering trying to figure everything out, just as much as you are,” she added. “Coming to that realization that nobody has it figured out, that we’re all just trying to make the best of it, was sort of huge for me.” - The Daily Herald

By Zach Pendleton
(Published in the September/October 2005 issue)

It seems like everyone in Utah County plays guitar. From your next door neighbor to your best friend to my mother's cat, everybody here has written a few sappy songs that they'd love to impress you with. The problem? None of them are very impressive. The acoustic singer-songwriter vein has been so thoroughly tapped in the valley that it's hard to remember why it was ever popular in the first place. Thankfully there are artists like Debra Fotheringham to remind us.

The daughter of a jazz aficionado, Fotheringham reveals in her debut album that her influences run deeper than the average folkies. She may hold an acoustic guitar and sing about the occasional relationship, but her music isn't that simple, often leaving folk's simplicity to explore jazz phrasings and rock rhythms. On songs like "Marathon Runner" and "Fire," her guitar playing is reminiscent of a young Ani DiFranco. On all of her songs and her clear vocals draw attention to lyrics that--while sometimes trite--are usually worth paying attention to.

Her eclectic style fits as easily in a full-band show as it does a living room, as evidenced by her appearances this year everywhere from the Sandy Amphitheater to a fan's backyard in Provo. It seems like no place is too small for this hard-working musician, and her website details her adventures through the west, sleeping in cars, looking at stars, and finding Seattle's perfect open air market. Fotheringham's honesty and humanity are as appealing as her talents. While the latter, now good, are sure to improve, one can only hope that her kindness and accessibility never change. Her online tour journal, myspace.com page, and willingness to play in your (yes, your) backyard make it easy to forget that she's a rising star and not just the girl next door.

In short, Debra Fotheringham's music is sure to appeal to fans of Peter Breinholt, Nancy Hansen, and Ryan Shupe, but even those of you who have a vendetta against Utah County's bloated folk scene might by pleasantly surprised. After all, she's better than my mother's cat. - Square Magazine

By Taylor Hawes
(Published in the September/October 2006 issue)

Quite possibly Tori Amos without the edge with a twinge of country, Debra's clarion and unimpeded inflection is never drowned out by her uncomplicated guitar backing. Her newer tunes reflect her improvement in her lyric writing and harmonic progressions. And perhaps her biggest influence was listening to all that jazz music that her dad played ever since she could remember. Though her style is folk rock, there is no doubt that Ella Fitzgerald's pipes inspired many of Debra's tonality. - Square Magazine

By David Rasmussen
(Published March 31, 2007)

A few years ago at the old Wrapsody Club on University Avenue in Provo, a teenager sat under the bright lights, trembling from a mix of anticipation and nervousness.
"I was scared out of my mind," said Debra Fotheringham.
Fotheringham, 15 years old at the time, sang a few jazz standards with a small combo group, her first performance in front of a live audience.
"I was shaking through the whole thing," she said. "But it was exhilarating."
Since that day seven years ago, Fotheringham, an American Fork native, has played hundreds of shows, with her audiences ranging in size from less than a dozen people to a few thousand. Her music has been featured in a number of house shows, movie soundtracks and radio spots, with her first album to debut in late April.
She's gone on performing tours, even venturing to South Carolina and New York.
Yet Fotheringham still prefers to play for the smaller crowds.
"I don't really like big shows, to be honest," she said. "There are so many people that it feels like a big entity instead of people in a room listening to you play. My music's very lyric driven, so if I feel the lyrics aren't coming across, then I just don't like it as much."
After playing for free at bookstores and cafes, Fotheringham has taken her show on the road, often traveling to nearby states with another local artist to promote their music.
With the growing popularity came added exposure. In 2005, Fotheringham was voted Favorite Local Performer in a Utah Valley Magazine poll. Her talents have also been featured on a number of LDS music compilations, including "The R.M." movie soundtrack and "A Very Singles Christmas."
Fotheringham's musical style, however, reaches beyond the LDS realm. With a self-described "alternative, folky-rock pop" style, Fotheringham's songs combine elements of many different styles.
Fotheringham struggles daily with the inherent difficulties faced by independent musicians. The logistics of booking venues, finding funds for touring and dealing with marketing issues take their toll at times.
"It's like you're trying to run a business and be the product at the same time," she said. "Sometimes it can get frustrating. I've never been very good at promoting myself."
Although the process of self-promotion is a consuming one, Fotheringham said a desire to give her audience a moving experience is more of a motivation than any revenue she could gain from ticket sales.
"I believe everybody loves music; everyone can connect to some aspect of music, and that's really what I want to focus on," she said. "I don't want to get too caught up in the marketing side of it but try to make it more so that I'm writing songs that people can relate to and are affected by. That's the whole point."
Fotheringham's first album will debut April 27.
Having spent the last few months recording at a studio in Draper, Fotheringham said she has benefited greatly from the talents of producer Giles Reaves. Reaves, a native of Nashville, recently moved to Salt Lake City after an extensive career working with artists like Patty Griffin and Chantal Kreviazuk.
"I've been wanting to do an album for about five years, I just haven't had the means," Fotheringham said. "Finally, I have the money and all the materials to make it. I'm really excited. It's kind of the culmination of everything I've been working towards."
After the album release, Fotheringham's touring plans remain open. And though her future surely holds opportunities to play in front of thousands of fans at larger venues, Fotheringham said her true love lies in catering to intimate crowds, audiences in which she can see every listener's face and feel their reaction to her music.
"I love the emotional connection that I feel when an audience can really connect with a song. It's just a sense of community," she said. "You don't really get that strong of an emotional connection any other way than through music with the people around you." - Deseret News

By Jason Pyles
(Published April 16, 2007
Having returned from performing in New York and Washington, singer songwriter Debra Fotheringham is preparing to launch the release of her new album, Debra Fotheringham, with a concert on April 27.

The 23-year-old musician has been refining her music for a decade, developing her own voice and style that can best be described as alternative-folk-jazz.

Fotheringham is often compared to Norah Jones, Jewel, Sarah McLachlan and Edie Brickell.

Fotheringham, who typically plays solo, will be accompanied by a band during her performance at the Tahitian Noni Auditorium in Provo (located west of the Riverwoods Shopping Center). Bryant Bunnell will be the opening act of the show, beginning at 7 p.m.

Her self-titled release, Debra Fotheringham, is a 10-track CD produced and engineered at Annex Recording in Draper, Utah. It will be available at the show for $10. Fotheringham said this is her first professional, fully produced album.

"The CD is a little old sounding -- so everything's not precise and sonically clear -- but it's kind of warm. We were going for a vintage combo feel that sounds intimate and close," Fotheringham said.

The album's cover was photographed by Russ Dixon (formally of the popular band, Colors). The singer calls the cover's picture "playful, artistic whimsy." "I really wanted a cover that wasn't all serious and pretentious," Fotheringham said.

"Lyrically, the album seems to have a water theme: "Across Oceans," "Waterfall," "Summer Rain," but that was unintentional," Fotheringham said.

The songwriter used to be more vague in her lyric writing -- careful not to reveal too much -- but that has changed: "I've approached songwriting differently because I want people to get something out of it -- whether or not it's what I intended -- as long as it touches people." She continued, "Performers come and go, but a really good song can last generations."

Fotheringham is perhaps best known for her smooth, jazzy voice and impressive vocal range. Her live performances have the precision of a studio recording. Fotheringham's shows are never disappointing.

Fotheringham plans to continue to pursue her professional music career: "I think living your dream is the most important thing; one of the saddest things to me is spending your days doing something you hate," Fotheringham said.

"I really want to do this for a living: I love music, I love to travel, and I love having different things, every day." - UVSC College Times

(Published in the January/February 2004 issue)

"Utah Valley's Favorite Local Performer" - Utah Valley Magazine

By Steven Snyder
(Published March 20, 2007)

Debra Fotheringham has traveled quite the long way for an open mic night.

Venturing some 2,200 miles from American Fork, Utah, this acoustic folk rocker plans to take the stage tomorrow night at the cozy Cool Beanz coffee shop in St. James, the featured performer at a weekly open mic night that regularly draws more than 50 local artists.

But that supportive Long Island crowd is only part of the reason she made the trip.

Even more appealing to her, as well as to hundreds of other performers who have made much the same journey over the past year, is the prospect of being chosen for the "Acoustic Long Island" podcast.

"Things like MySpace and podcasts are changing the whole way the music business works," Fotheringham says with marvel. "This is not just a local market anymore. It's not even about CDs anymore, but about reaching people halfway around the world."

She knows her open mic performance in St. James might well go on to reach more than 10,000 listeners in every corner of the globe. - Long Island Newsday

By Logan Molyneux
(Published March 11, 2005)

The menu on the wall is the only way to distinguish the Vermilion Skies Cafe from a living room. The other walls in the Provo venue are lined with couches, armchairs, and bookshelves. Above the couches and tables, a section of the wall is plastered with scraps of paper containing drawings and short poems like a family refrigerator.

The place feels more like a home with a cash register than a cafe with couches. To complete the atmosphere, Vermilion Skies hosts poetry readings on Wednesday nights and local musicians on the weekends.

Singer Songwriters Debra Fotheringham and Stephanie Smith will bring their distinct music styles to the cafe at 8pm Friday.

Fotheringham said her sound is earthy, more roots and jazz oriented, while Smith's is more smooth and lyrical.

"My dad was a jazz musician," Fotheringham said. "He has probably a thousand jazz CDs that I grew up listening to, so that's been a big influence on me."

She said she really likes Brazilian rhythms and artists such as Antonio Carlos-Jobim. Some of her favorite vocalists are Ella Fitzgerald and Norah Jones.

...Their musical styles contrast but Fotheringham and Smith think it's better that way. They've been doing concerts together since they met almost two years ago.

"We both have pretty different styles, so our show isn't boring," Fotheringham said, "but they're not so different that they don't go together."

Teaming up has worked well for them. Both musicians were asked to record in Nashville this May so they can pitch their music to producers in the area. While neither one is sure where this opportunity will lead, they are both excited. Smith and Fotheringham attriute their recording offer to good networking.

"It's all about who you know," Fotheringham said. "That makes all the difference."

Other keys to success, they said, are an e-mail list and a website to keep fans informed. Fotheringham advised other musicians to give concerts, even free ones, whenever possible.

"Play everywhere, as much as you can," she said. "Things like open mic nights are great."

Smith suggested that getting a gimmick might be the key to standing out and drawing and audience here in Provo.

"I've seen so many performers around here with some sort of gimmick," she said,"so I told Debra we should probably get a dancing monkey or something."
- The Daily Universe

By Logan Molyneux
(Published March 11, 2005)

The menu on the wall is the only way to distinguish the Vermilion Skies Cafe from a living room. The other walls in the Provo venue are lined with couches, armchairs, and bookshelves. Above the couches and tables, a section of the wall is plastered with scraps of paper containing drawings and short poems like a family refrigerator.

The place feels more like a home with a cash register than a cafe with couches. To complete the atmosphere, Vermilion Skies hosts poetry readings on Wednesday nights and local musicians on the weekends.

Singer Songwriters Debra Fotheringham and Stephanie Smith will bring their distinct music styles to the cafe at 8pm Friday.

Fotheringham said her sound is earthy, more roots and jazz oriented, while Smith's is more smooth and lyrical.

"My dad was a jazz musician," Fotheringham said. "He has probably a thousand jazz CDs that I grew up listening to, so that's been a big influence on me."

She said she really likes Brazilian rhythms and artists such as Antonio Carlos-Jobim. Some of her favorite vocalists are Ella Fitzgerald and Norah Jones.

...Their musical styles contrast but Fotheringham and Smith think it's better that way. They've been doing concerts together since they met almost two years ago.

"We both have pretty different styles, so our show isn't boring," Fotheringham said, "but they're not so different that they don't go together."

Teaming up has worked well for them. Both musicians were asked to record in Nashville this May so they can pitch their music to producers in the area. While neither one is sure where this opportunity will lead, they are both excited. Smith and Fotheringham attriute their recording offer to good networking.

"It's all about who you know," Fotheringham said. "That makes all the difference."

Other keys to success, they said, are an e-mail list and a website to keep fans informed. Fotheringham advised other musicians to give concerts, even free ones, whenever possible.

"Play everywhere, as much as you can," she said. "Things like open mic nights are great."

Smith suggested that getting a gimmick might be the key to standing out and drawing and audience here in Provo.

"I've seen so many performers around here with some sort of gimmick," she said,"so I told Debra we should probably get a dancing monkey or something."
- The Daily Universe

By Krystin Anderson
(Published February 14, 2008)

In a small venue across the Atlantic Ocean, American Fork-born Debra Fotheringham stood before a crowd of Germans and called out an uncertain "Guten Abend," meriting a few chuckles. Undiscouraged, she turned to her guitar and let her music speak for her.
More than a year earlier, her voice caught the attention of Russ Dixon, former member of Utah band "Colors," who will perform with Fotheringham on Saturday at the Tahitian Noni Auditorium for a Valentine's Day concert.

"The first time I heard her play I knew she was the real deal," he said. "She's got one of the cleanest, purest voices I think I've ever heard."

The two have never played together before, but Dixon said he is excited to be her guest artist and "add a little flavor," which could include some freestyle rap.

"I like to rap a little here and there," Dixon said, "so I may ask her to pull out the drums on Saturday and maybe we'll do a little rap. That would be fun."

Unknown to most are Fotheringham's skills on hand percussion instruments, which Dixon said she has played for other local musicians.

"She's actually a really good drummer," Dixon said. "She won't brag about her percussion skills, but someone should."

Fotheringham gives away her percussive abilities, however, in the way she plays the guitar.

"There's such a wide range of sounds you can get from a guitar, and it's a little bit percussive," Fotheringham said. "I can kind of be a percussionist and a guitarist at the same time while I play the guitar."

Her music is primarily folk with a strain of pop, a combination of factors that sparked the interest of Kurt Hale, co-founder of Halestorm Entertainment, who heard her play at Border's Bookstore and offered her a spot on "The R.M." soundtrack.

This helped get her name out of Utah and opened her career to the national and international scene. In 2007, after releasing her self-titled album, she took advantage of that scene and toured across the United States, even crossing into Europe through France, Germany and Scotland.

"It was awesome," she said. "It was a little difficult because of the language barrier thing, but it seemed that music was the universal language ... but the between-song banter was kind of cut short." - The Daily Herald

By Krystin Anderson
(Published February 14, 2008)

In a small venue across the Atlantic Ocean, American Fork-born Debra Fotheringham stood before a crowd of Germans and called out an uncertain "Guten Abend," meriting a few chuckles. Undiscouraged, she turned to her guitar and let her music speak for her.
More than a year earlier, her voice caught the attention of Russ Dixon, former member of Utah band "Colors," who will perform with Fotheringham on Saturday at the Tahitian Noni Auditorium for a Valentine's Day concert.

"The first time I heard her play I knew she was the real deal," he said. "She's got one of the cleanest, purest voices I think I've ever heard."

The two have never played together before, but Dixon said he is excited to be her guest artist and "add a little flavor," which could include some freestyle rap.

"I like to rap a little here and there," Dixon said, "so I may ask her to pull out the drums on Saturday and maybe we'll do a little rap. That would be fun."

Unknown to most are Fotheringham's skills on hand percussion instruments, which Dixon said she has played for other local musicians.

"She's actually a really good drummer," Dixon said. "She won't brag about her percussion skills, but someone should."

Fotheringham gives away her percussive abilities, however, in the way she plays the guitar.

"There's such a wide range of sounds you can get from a guitar, and it's a little bit percussive," Fotheringham said. "I can kind of be a percussionist and a guitarist at the same time while I play the guitar."

Her music is primarily folk with a strain of pop, a combination of factors that sparked the interest of Kurt Hale, co-founder of Halestorm Entertainment, who heard her play at Border's Bookstore and offered her a spot on "The R.M." soundtrack.

This helped get her name out of Utah and opened her career to the national and international scene. In 2007, after releasing her self-titled album, she took advantage of that scene and toured across the United States, even crossing into Europe through France, Germany and Scotland.

"It was awesome," she said. "It was a little difficult because of the language barrier thing, but it seemed that music was the universal language ... but the between-song banter was kind of cut short." - The Daily Herald

23 January 2018
by Thomas Britt

In fall 2017, Debra Fotheringham released her first solo album of original material since Time, an EP from 2010. Fotheringham, also an essential voice in the Lower Lights, describes the period between solo releases as a time of hibernation or "woodshedding," time spent listening to other music. Though her experiences as a solo artist are different than Christensen's, her new album The Darkness and the Sun is a creative breakthrough similar to his Sad Songs, and the two albums share several themes.

As a singer, Fotheringham possesses a clarity and purity characteristic of singers like Karen Carpenter, Iris DeMent, Mimi Parker, and Nina Persson. While she's lost none of her melodic quality, Fotheringham explores subject matters on The Darkness and the Sun that bring a new depth to her identity as an artist. In interviews she cites Maria Bamford's creative process as an inspiration for her own path to creating these songs. This citation of a seemingly leftfield inspiration was also a feature of Promised Land, the 2016 LP from Lower Lights member (and Darkness and the Sun contributor) Ryan Tanner, who credited Charlie Kaufman's 2011 BAFTA screenwriters' lecture as the catalyst for that work.

Fotheringham begins her album with "Stranger in a Strange Land", which subtly interacts with Tanner's photography and art direction that isolates the singer in black-and-white landscapes. The lyrics position the singer outside of physical interaction and verbal communication, longing for things that are "all just out of reach". "Stranger in a Strange Land" is a variation on an emotional state similar to the one explored in Christensen's "Waiting for the Magic", and this song also invites the listener to see how that emotional state develops across this album.


The Darkness and the Sun has the feeling of being front-loaded, because the first three tunes are the most memorable material on the album. On "Drive Across the Desert", Fotheringham's delivery and the band's wide-open execution perfectly convey the journey mapped in the lyrics. Sonically, "White Bird" is the most interesting song on the album. Scott Wiley, the album's producer/engineer/mixer, previously worked with Elliott Smith, and the use of Smith-like doubled/panned vocals enhances Fotheringham's lyrics that vacillate between stasis and flight.

The title track of The Darkness and the Sun pairs with Christensen's "Let Mercy Find Me". But the shore imagined here isn't so merciful. Here Fotheringham addresses a figure or force that is nothing and everything and of whom her "hope to reach your shore always failed." "The Darkness and the Sun" seems to allude to the conflicts and contradictions Fotheringham says she had on her mind while developing the album. "Sometimes the Wolf" examines additional dualities that have left the song's character cynical and disappointed.

"Get Back" serves a crucial function on The Darkness and the Sun, because here the character in the song begins to move, temporarily, from despondency to hope, or from solitude to reconciliation. The defining phrase is, "all the reasons that I had to say why / I was saying goodbye / all sound like lies". In an album full of wonderful backing vocals, it seems significant that there are no other voices present on "Get Back" or "Apologies," as these songs concern the self, and selfishness, respectively.

"Winter that Will Never Come" directly involves Christensen in that he's featured as the backing vocalist. But beyond that direct connection, the song engages with the theme of waiting that permeates Sad Songs. Yet once again, Fotheringham's use of the theme results in a decidedly more ambiguous, likely downbeat, conclusion than Christensen's album-closer "Ruler of Your Heart."

This conclusion is what most distinguishes The Darkness and the Sun as a new direction for Fotheringham. On "You Elude Me", from 2010's Time, she declared, "I'll never give up this dream / Though you elude me." At present she's not prepared to wait much longer to connect. Instead she's "thinking hard about skipping town"; a product of her doubt and perhaps also a way out from her sad songs. - popmatters.com