Marisa Anderson's "Into the Light"

The Artist: Marisa Anderson

The Record: Into the Light (Chaos Kitchen, 2016)

The Sound: Low-Key Acid Western Guitar

The Story: Marisa Anderson spent years living the life of a nomad: hitchhiking, traveling with a circus, living in cars, buses, tents, and sometimes just walking. Throughout that time, she brought her guitar along, her constant companion. It's through that guitar that she tells her stories.

After 2 records of solo improvisational guitar and the aptly-titled Traditional & Public Domain Songs, Into the Light finds Anderson composing songs and functioning as a one woman band, overlaying guitar, lap steel, and pedal steel to fully flesh out the sound of this album. The effect is both calming and mesmerizing.

Described as a "soundtrack to an imaginary science-fiction western film," the story follows a lone traveller lost in the Sonoran Desert. And it's true, the record is deeply Western, lost somewhere in the blurred distance of a desert horizon. But as Anderson takes you deep into that desert, the music keeps you afloat, and you seem to glide along on the cool breezes of each dreamlike phrase.

My sweetheart and I were driving back to Sancti Petri after a hot day in Vejer and beautiful afternoon in a hippie beach town and she requested something calm and gentle. Needless to say, this record guided us smoothly along the coast as we chased the Spanish sunset home. It evoked in me a strong sense of wonder and wander. Reminded me of a certain kind of travel I love, the kind of travel through landscapes that speak with a wordless wisdom.

"This is nice." I probably said.

"Mmhmm."