Lightning Dust

If “a thousand shades of grey” is a given, it follows that musical darkness would also come in countless variations. Amber Webber and Joshua Wells have already traipsed through rock’s shadows with the likes of Black Mountain, Blood Meridian, Dream on Dreary and a score of other projects. With their sombre new endeavour, Lightning Dust, set to be officially unveiled, one wonders: What permutations of darkness are left for them to plunder?

“Melodrama,” offers Wells with a grin. “We wanted to make our music more theatrical than ‘band music’... A little more staged.” Would he go so far as to call it rock opera? “It’s hardly rock,” he counters. “It’s more just opera.” Wells is somewhat of an authority on such matters: He was once a boy soprano in Toronto.

Meanwhile, Webber’s CV includes a childhood stint in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. For her part, she suggests that Lightning Dust embodies an element of cabaret. “I just love singing that style,” she says. “We kind of want to keep this project out of the typical night club. It would be nice to just play art shows and events. I love going to those special little nights where there’s something other than music going on.”

If Lightning Dust’s aspirations seem modest, examine the project’s humble origins. In 2005, the pair created a six-song EP as a Christmas present for friends and family. When they found themselves “poor and needing something to occupy (their) time” last summer, they decided to record a full album in an extra room of their home.

“From the very start, we just went for something really spare,” says Wells. While the arrangements were restrained, the instrumentation proved more daring: Wells abandoned his drum kit in favour of keyboards and vocalist Webber uncharacteristically slung on a six-string. Their homebound experimentation culminated in what Webber proudly describes as a “midnight album.”

Opening track “Listened On” immediately establishes a funereal tone. Delicately strummed guitar is augmented by synths that alternate between bubbling warmth and gurgling menace. Elsewhere, “Castles and Caves” offers evocative lyrics laced with minimalist piano. Those familiar with Webber’s voice know that she possesses pipes more mournful than a church organ. Here, her otherworldly vocals afford Lightning Dust’s songs a spectral beauty. On the dirge “Breathe,” a droning electric guitar surges as she wails, “Please don’t forget me.” That seems highly unlikely. This music could haunt a listener for days.

Lightning Dust’s self-titled debut will be released by Jagjaguwar (also home to Black Mountain) on June 19. All told, a North American release is a welcome, if a somewhat unexpected, affirmation for the project. “We had no intention of doing anything with (the record) originally,” says Wells, who has nothing but praise for Jagjaguwar. “They didn’t have to put it out. They wanted to.”

With a June tour still on the horizon, the challenge immediately facing Lightning Dust is an opening slot for The Black Angels (at Richard’s on May 25). A bill with firebrand psyche rockers seems a far cry from the subdued jazz clubs and soft seaters Webber and Wells feel their music is ideally suited for. “That should be a bit out of our element,” accepts Wells. However, the seasoned performers are far from daunted. “In terms of being nervous, we’ve made fools of ourselves in front of vast numbers of people,” he gamely philosophizes. “We’re open to just about anything.”