Sun Glories, by Chuck Johnson
Reviewed by Geeta Dayal
Chuck Johnson is known for his ornate guitar and atmospheric pedal-steel compositions that coalesce American folk, ambient, and experimental music into a unique whole. His new album, Sun Glories (August 16, 2024), is named for the hazy halo effect caused by rays of sunlight. It connects to the longing for summer, he told me in a recent interview, but also to the pangs of nostalgia that can be associated with the season.
The record blends guitar with pedal steel, synthesizers, organs, strings, saxophone, and drums. The experimental musician and composer Rachika Nayar inspired Johnson’s renewed embrace of the electric guitar, which he had abandoned for several years in favor of other instruments. “Her technique breaks the guitar apart and reassembles it,” he said. Her creative approach had a deep impact on Sun Glories, especially the single “Sylvanshine.”
“Sylvanshine” features Johnson’s guitar paired with saxophone by the experimental musician Cole Pulice, who uses glissando to make the instrument resemble a human voice. On “Ground Wave,” Johnson layers poignant pedal-steel melodies with melancholy string parts played by the cellist Clarice Jensen and the violinist Emily Packard.
The album closes with the energetic “Broken Spectre.” Johnson’s misty, ambient pedal steel is intensified by Ryan Jewell’s propulsive drumming and hypnotic pitch bending, reminiscent of a My Bloody Valentine song from the early ’90s. “I think the thread that runs through the entire album is a desire to express a sense of ecstasy that isn’t exclusively joyful,” Johnson told me. There are moments of cheerful exuberance, but an aching sense of longing permeates throughout.