Lightning Dust’s full-length Spectre, is now out via Western Vinyl. After releasing the singles “Run Away,” “Led Astray,” “A Pretty Picture” (ft. Stephen Malkmus on guitar), and “Devoted To,” the Vancouver, BC duo have shared the Tyler McLeod-directed video for “Competitive Depression.” Lightning Dust heads back out on the road in British Columbia next month, beginning November 8th in Nanaimo. The band will then travel overseas to tour Europe and the UK throughout late November and into December. A current itinerary is below and more dates will be announced soon.

After co-founding and then touring with Black Mountain for over a decade, Amber Webber and Josh Wells departed the band in 2017 to further their own long-term creative partnership. Lightning Dust has evolved noticeably with each release, from the spare, dark folk of their 2007 self-titled debut, to the synth and drum machine-heavy 2013 album, Fantasy. The through-line of their discography, however, has been how Wells’ deft production is tailored perfectly around Webber’s modestly iconic voice, of which The Believer wrote in 2013, “[her] voice…hovers somewhere between life and death. It’s not limbo, it’s a country to explore.”

Webber wrote the moving and haunting songs on Spectre during a challenging, introspective time of self-discovery and rebirth that resulted in her rededication to music. Throughout, she sings of deeply personal, yet relatable matters including her resilience and determination to reestablish her creative independence, the human need for change, and how it feels to face the demons in one’s past. Spectre also touches on her departure from Black Mountain (“When It Rains”), as well as her search for a sense of direction as she moved into her new future (“A Pretty Picture”). Booming slacker anthem “Competitive Depression” features vocals by Destroyer’s Dan Bejar, and the dramatic two-part closer “3am / 100 Degrees” brings Spectre full-circle with a final statement about delusions that manifest in strife: “Replaying what’s behind, made us all scared when nothing was there.”

2018 was a whirlwind of new beginnings for Webber — she went back to school and even tried out a new career. In the end, these detours gave her the chance to step back and explore what parts of music were important to protect. “It made me realize that art and music are still my light,” she explains. “Spectre is my journey. It’s for all the women warriors that have been battling throughout life looking for a place to express themselves that feels inclusive and inspiring. It’s about finding yourself when no one is paying attention and inventing a new way of creating that feels honest and sincere. I truly feel that women, especially as we age, are underrepresented. That was truly the driving force to creating this album.”

Lightning Dust
Live

11/8 – Nanaimo, BC @ White Room*
11/9 – Victoria, BC @ Upstairs Cabaret*
11/13 – Vancouver, BC @ Fox Cabaret**
11/21- Amsterdam, NL @ Bitterzoet
11/22 – Liege, BE @ La Zone
11/23 – London, UK @ Corsica Studios
11/24 – Liverpool, UK @ 24 Kitchen Street
11/25 – Glasgow, UK @ Broadcast
11/26 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
11/28 – Antwerp, BE @ Het Bos
12/04 – Munich, DE @ Feierwerk
12/08 – Copenhagen, DK @ VEGA
12/09 – Leipzig, DE @ UT Connewitz
12/10 – Berlin, DE @ PRIVATCLUB Berlin
12/12 – Groningen, NL @ Vera Groningen
12/13 – Utrecht, NL @ EKKO

* supported by Himalayan Bear (solo)
** supported by Himalayan Bear (solo) and KCAR