After several years of hard touring and self-released albums, New Jersey combo Pinegrove made their breakthrough with 2016's Cardinal, their first release for Boston indie Run for Cover Records. Fronted by mercurial singer/songwriter Evan Stephens Hall, the group's mix of ragged, emo-tinged indie rock and introspective Americana struck a chord with fans and critics, landing them on a number of high-profile year-end lists and increasing their national visibility significantly. As most bands would do in their position, they entered the logical cycle of touring, promoting, and working on their follow-up the following summer. In keeping with their previous albums, Skylight was self-recorded, this time at a house the band was renting in Upstate New York, and after sessions wrapped up, they'd even gotten as far as releasing its lead single, the moody, slow-building "Intrepid," in early November 2017. Here Pinegrove's story diverges from the norm, starting with the sudden band-issued statement that Hall had been accused of "sexual coercion" and that both the release and all touring plans had been shelved out of respect for the accuser while the band internally dealt with the issue. Arriving in the midst of the #MeToo movement, the allegations were by all accounts addressed quickly and directly by all parties, with Hall admitting he'd had a "brief but intense" relationship with his accuser. What proved to be a somewhat complicated story was investigated and discussed in several online publications and by the time Skylight -- which had been entirely written and recorded prior to the accusation -- had been OK'd for release, Pinegrove had lost their label support and a good deal of their momentum. Tainted as it may be by the situation, the self-released set is a beautifully written and wholly engaging successor to Cardinal, building on that album's searching emotional tone with sharper songwriting and curious allusions to deep self-reflection and bettering one's path which, in hindsight, seems to address the issue that blocked its path to release. The warm and roomy production and rich harmonies imbue standouts like "Portal" and "Angelina" with a beguiling kind of wistfulness. A sweet mix of melancholic guitar rock and big-hearted folk, "Darkness" is another highlight among this achingly human collection which, for better or for worse, remains tied to a hurtful public affair that can be heard retroactively within its seams.
© Timothy Monger /TiVo