by Charlie Pecorella (@oatbituary)
Rushing in from the shores of Asbury Park, New Jersey, Lightheaded’s first LP Combustible Gems casts a twinkling haze with their sixties-tinged power-pop tunes. Lightheaded began in 2017 as Cynthia Rittenbach and Stephen Stec swapped ideas and snacked on late night bites at the now shuttered Inkwell Coffeehouse. With time and talent on their side, the golden songwriting duo’s earliest collaborations finally see the light.
Lightheaded’s premiere EP, Good Good Great!, surfaced in October 2023 to energized audiences ready for sweet melodies in the key of The Aislers Set, The Feelies, Broadcast, Vashti Bunyan, Beat Happening, and Belle & Sebastian. Traveling inland to co-headline 90.3 The Core’s annual Corefest with Frankie Cosmos in March, their future holds a transcontinental tour. From May through July, the NJ darlings are sharing the warmth and fuzzies of this record with fans spanning across the United States and the UK.
Released via Slumberland Records, Combustible Gems excavates and refines the dawn of their discography, with tracks dating back to 2017. Combustible Gems showcases Rittenback on bass and vocals, with wordsmith Stec on guitar, Sara Abdelbarry in harmony with Rittenbach and on guitar, and Anthony Meleo hitting the drums. A dazzling experience, listeners revel in the pop darling’s assured melodies, which seamlessly pull from decades past. An unbeknownst listener might trace the record back to the British 60s, while simultaneously stunned by short, buzzing synths indebted to 80s DIY pop pursuits.
The deceivingly simple bliss of each song translates to tireless hours in the purgatory of searching for “just-right”. While Stec’s emotionally vulnerable songwriting steers surreal on these tracks, Rittenbach’s vocals can lift to a haunt, or plunge a staccato. This otherworldly combination establishes a musical limbo for listeners to float atop the reverb, keel to shimmering bells, kick their heels to the jangle. One might jump heartily to the bright, brilliant composition led by Rittenbach, or ponder Stec’s poetry while cradling the pieces of a broken heart.
Record highlights include “Dawn Hush Lullaby,” “Moments Notice,” and “Still Sitting Sunday”. On the tender “Dawn Hush Lullaby,” Erin Turner’s featured string arrangements clarify and compliment Lightheaded’s musical vision - the band credits Turner as “the true secret weapon”. With “Moments Notice,” Lightheaded closes distances of time and space, with a comforting, “We need a moments notice/to fill those gaps”. A curious track, “Still Sitting Sunday,” follows a protagonist being drawn to the shore, then alarmingly drowning, before Rittenbach assures “to drown out the sound”. Considering Lightheaded’s history as a band, ebbing then flowing in a pandemic’s tide, it’s no surprise that their magic lies in spinning sublime escapes and reeling in beauty from a soul’s darkest corners.