Amber Run – For A Moment, I Was Lost Review

Amber Run – For A Moment, I Was Lost (Dine Alone Records)

I was not sure how to measure the viability of Amber Run’s latest album For A Moment, I Was Lost. It’s not completely apparent this is an album based on stories of mental health. It’s not immediate that low points were a factor beyond temporary hints in the album title and the Depeche Mode-esque short song titles.

The album is an alternative pop masterpiece with a glossy sheen from the soothing vocals to the orchestration of the band serving as an accentuation. Produced by Ben Allen (Deerhunter, Cee Lo Green, and others), he gave it a glistening perfection of haunted fragility. But this album pinpoints to events that precedes its creation.

Amber Run – Stranger

In 2015, the band experienced a phone call that would begin to change their lives. Their label decided to drop the band. Mental breakdowns, despair, it was a dark time led up to their signing with Dine Alone Records.

The album is a memoir about the dark moments and a reminder of how the band preservered. And after listening to this album, I would bet that their previous label is kicking themselves in the ass because this by far the best thing they have done.

“Haze” blooms in processed a cappella. We relate to the reality of the fear of dying alone. The song is a blue haze that, at times, engulfs our happiness. This is an example of documenting about the struggle without pointed self-serving fingers at themselves. They can rock hard on “Perfect” while being subtly intimate on the transcendental “Stranger.”

William S. Burroughs said that you have to be in hell to see heaven. What we see is a rejuvenated and refreshed band who used their dark moments to make a more positive outlook. This album is a monster that will delight any alt rock fan.