Musicurious

Released on: 9 December 2011
He’s from: Sacramento, California
Sounds like: being serenaded on a quiet, rainy day.
Hear it: http://somuchlight.bandcamp.com/
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So Much Light is Damien Verrett’s (The Speed of Sound in Seawater) acoustic solo project. Finals Week is a devious teaser EP, 4 songs specifically designed to get you unrelentingly hooked on his particular brand of lavish, picked acoustic indie.

If you dig TSoSiS already, just picture all of their amps turning off at the same time, and you have a general idea of what So Much Light sounds like. The guitar work is great. Technical, but judicious. And Damien’s vocals just keep getting better. I’d say they rival, if not beat, his work on Underwater Tell Each Other Secrets. His delivery is vulnerable, but not raw and bordering on whiny ala Dashboard Confessional or Secondhand Serenade. Tasteful.

“Hitching Post Bound” is my favorite track on Finals Week, aside from the bouncy picked guitar, there’s a small coterie of guest instruments that give the song a different feel, removed from the spare, boy-and-his-guitar songs that populate the EP otherwise. It’s got this Copeland-meets-Joey Eppard vibe.

I’m looking forward to Damien’s full-length when it finally does drop. It’s probably one of my more anticipated releases of 2012. Here’s hoping he’s got a few more songs like “Hitching Post Bound” up his sleeve.