Moving forward with a colder tone, Quiet Light can keep it fascinating. ‘Going Nowhere’ is another building block to Quiet Light’s atmospheric detours, leaning on chilling textures and solemn songwriting delivered with striking hooks and well-mixed soundscapes.
With each project that she has pulled together thus far, there is a mystical direction that Quiet Light is treading into. The musical alias of Riya Mahesh, she first started putting out projects in 2020 where her brand of folk-pop is coated with a silk atmosphere that’s uplifted further with how she layers her melodies and how she pulls a diaristic tone to her songwriting, eventually allowing the hooks to strike, and her vocals to ring more radiance. Yet things did shift back in 2022 when she utilized electronics and recordings in her debut album to further explore more waves of atmosphere that might not become tightly composed, but instill amusement in creating a dreamy feel to her records - 2023’s ‘Blue Angel Sparkling Silver’ certainly does closely evoke that mood. 2024 has become more productive for Quiet Light, playing her music in live settings and eventually putting on a few projects such as the ‘Contact’ EP back in May, and her newest album, ‘Going Nowhere’, just this month.
At first glimpse, ‘Going Nowhere’ might go back to the tightly knit projects such as ‘Fourth Of July’ where it is tightly composed, with 7 songs bringing back the immediate hooks that Quiet Light knows how to potently deliver, but there is some shift in how the instrumental tone has sounded. There are a lot more glistening effects and glossy soundscapes swirling around the record that’s quite reminiscent of ‘Blue Angel Sparkling Silver’ and ‘I Love You Because You’re In Love With The World’, creating a chilly mood that the production wondrously fleshes out, bringing all that instrumental and vocal sharpness to light. It’s a characteristic that does lead to terrific cuts all around, such as the solemn vocal takes of ‘Blood Pours Like Wine’ where the sparkling atmosphere swirls around the fantastic chorus line, the lighter drum shuffle of ‘Paloma’ that soon leads to the buzzy synth bass before eventually transitioning to the lilting acoustics and vocal harmonies at the end of the song, the chilling atmosphere of ‘Luckiest Girl’ where the moody vocal takes are accompanied with smeared effects amidst the shifting groove passages, the gleaming synth melody of ‘Trains, Cars, Planes’ that leads to the gorgeous ray of vocal harmonies on the back half of the song, and especially the buoyant layers of acoustics and keys on ‘Waiting’ that later stacks up with walls of vocals and synths to accentuate a hazy atmosphere just before it slowly fickles out in the end.
This chilling coat also presents itself within the songwriting, settling into the romance that Quiet Light is within. There is also a bit of a slight shift in how Quiet Light writes about this romance, especially towards adding some bits of conflict wherein as much as she is in love with the guy she is with, there is a noticeable coldness in how she is treating her, which slowly makes her less good in that relationship. Yet, she is still rather gripping to that love, where she just can’t help thinking about his smile on ‘Trains, Cars, Airplanes’ or how she still loves him when he comes back to her on ‘Paloma’. That cold distance eventually swerves within ‘Keep Your Eyes On The Road’ where amidst the hesitant details, it does imply that the romance never stuck where the distance only clashes with Quiet Light’s yearning. Ending the arc on an open semi-melancholic note, where the invitation placed at the end might be accepted or rejected.
While this is still clearly another project that experiments with whatever Quiet Light will lean towards in the future, ‘Going Nowhere’ manages to have those experiments work for her as the gleaming production is paired with fantastic melodic hooks, alongside writing detours and vocal grace that does come up strong. With this many intriguing details that are worth mulling over, Quiet Light strikes again with a beautiful record. The yearning might’ve gotten nowhere within cold spaces, but it opens a road that allows the yearning to flourish on an uplifting scale.
Favorite Tracks: ‘Blood Pours Like Wine’, ‘Paloma’, ‘Luckiest Girl’, ‘Trains, Cars, Planes’, ‘Waiting’
Least Favorite Track: ‘Keep Your Eyes On The Road’