
“I wrote this record partly to strip mental illness of its power,” says Charlottesville’s Juliana Daugherty of her full-length debut. Captured in the Virginia countryside, Light reveals a songwriter finding quiet confidence amidst personal strife and the political tumult of her hometown. Songs gently sway and swell with understated narrative and unwavering purpose. Daugherty’s nuanced craft—moody, minimalist folk penned with an MFA in poetry, lightly supported at times by keys, bass, and drums—brings to mind “anything from Joni Mitchell to Angel Olsen,” says BrooklynVegan. Through darkness and difficulty arrives a stunning collection, out on Western Vinyl.