Review: Erin Rae Finds Introspection in Quarantine Isolation on 'Lighten Up'

In 2018, Erin Rae released her breakout second album Putting on Airs and the acclaim followed, including a nomination for Best Emerging Artist at the Americana Awards. Needless to say, a lot has happened since that time. Rae toured the album, building further on the buzz generated by the album. Fast forward to early 2020 when Rae finished her tour and settled down to rest, reset, and write for her new album. Of course, what really happened was over a year of forced isolation and limited access to studio time because of COVID-19. Surprisingly, Rae's muse didn't turn dark like so many of our moods, but took the forced seclusion to explore introspective moments, small victories, and a perspective that perfectly fits the title of her new album Lighten Up.

If Lighten Up is any indication, Erin Rae spent more than a little of her COVID seclusion with a record player and a box full of albums across multiple genres. Building on the gentle country-folk of her previous releases, Lighten Up also flashes moments of Fairport Convention-style British folk, Laurel Canyon's enlightened neighbor cosmic country, '70s lite rockers like The Carpenters (Rae's voice at times sounds enough like Karen Carpenter to be spooky), and even a bit of psychedelic flourish.

Recording in California's Topanga Canyon with producer Jonathan Wilson (Father John Misty). Rae intentionally stepped outside her Nashville comfort zone and worked with a different set of musicians and vocalist Kevin Morby, the result of which was a very slight air of apprehension throughout that fits the fragility of the album's inner monologues.

The highlight is early single “Candy and Curry.” It's a theme that will be familiar to most people who experienced those early days of lockdown, where everyone was learning to make sourdough bread, taking up gardening, or in Rae's case, “a friend in the mirror, seeing things much clearer than before.” A lot of us spent quite a bit of time inside our own heads during that period so Rae's unsuccessful attempts to distract from her own thoughts will ring with a lot of people.

Another highlight is “Modern Woman”, which lays a driving drum track under Rae's gentle vocals. Lyrically, it's a sendup of feminine stereotypes. “Round up the the old perceptions. Lay them on down. They're only telling stories and getting in the way right now.

While those are the two standouts, there is plenty more to love on Lighten Up. “Can't See Stars” is a duet with Kevin Morby and the song that pays the most homage to those '70s radio icons. The appropriately titled “Cosmic Sigh” is the song with the most psychedelic tinges, practically shimmering in its slowly swelling orchestral backdrop. “Lighten Up and Try” gives the album its title and also a mission to follow these quiet revelations with action.

Erin Rae is as unique as voice as there is in Americana today, both as a singer and a writer. Lighten Up makes good use of both to deliver an album that improves on her stellar 2018 offering and promises even more growth to come.