Based in Pequannock, New Jersey, USA, Bright Shining Lights have graced our pages a couple of times before.
By Graeme Smith
After discovering them through their 2025 album The Sun Is A Star, I ran the rule over the first release in an instrumental series, titled SM-01 earlier this year.
The second part, SM-02, is now out so I was interested to see how they had continued the project.
Their previous releases garnered praise from me for their world-building and cinematic style. The Sun Is A Star earned a comparison to Pink Floyd while SM-01 recalled Brian Eno and Vangelis.
The main sense I got from SM-02 was one of journey. That journey is set up by the wonderous electronic notes of Here To There. Tense strings feel like an orchestra warming up giving us a prelude, preamble, and calm before departure.
The early moments in this album give us the impression that the journey will be a gentle one. Through The Long Grass is a meditative moment. Swaying notes evoke flowing fields set out ahead of us while a piano melody plods us forward.
By the time we hit I Wish You Could See This, the drama starts to build. It draws on the world of the classical to create a sense of the epic. It bursts forward like a never seen before vision coming into view. Lights Ahead maintains this drama with an ineffable feeling like a chorus of angels.
Path Less Travelled introduces mystery though its low, rumbling layers and pensive melody. A release comes part way through that opens us up to a climactic crescendo. It sets up highlight Now We Get To It wonderfully. Things stayed charged through the relentless Cartwheels. This rousing sequence subverts the early expectations.
Finally, Splendour gives us a serene breather, and The Moon and The Water keeps the lunar theme going for a final moment of stirring reflection.
Taken as a pair, SM-01 and SM-02 are sisters, not twins. They occupy the same sonic space while not overlapping. The second in the series proves an interesting expansion of the Bright Shining Lights universe.
If you want to keep up to date with all the act are doing (including looking out for part three) you can by heading to their website, and by following them on Facebook, X, Spotify, Soundcloud, Bandcamp, YouTube, and Instagram.
SM-02 is out now, and you can listen to it below.
Supported by Musosoup #SustainableCurator
