About The Light
In 1999, Steve Mason was becoming as noted for his self-sabotage as for the cosmic, folky magic he was making with The Beta Band. With the group’s next-big-thing status rapidly escalating in the UK, he gave interviews dismissing their imminent debut album as “f\*\*\*ing awful” (it wasn’t). Twenty years later, he’s finally inclined to play a few notes on his own trumpet, describing the fourth album under his own name as his first “legitimate record.” While that’s harsh on his other, excellent solo releases, his confidence in *About the Light* is well-founded. With his usual restlessness and daring, he’s made his most optimistic record, embracing the peace he’s found since 2010’s moving *Boys Outside* documented his debilitating depression. Here, Mason emerges from insularity to seize the day on the title track’s country-fried blues before declaring, “She has brought the lights, I see/I won’t look back/That’s not for me” over the urgent soul-funk of “Stars Around My Heart.” Even contemplative moments, such as the gently psychedelic “Fox on the Rooftop,” emit a sense of playfulness and liberation. *About the Light* is further evidence that Mason possesses a rare combination of adventure, honesty, and skill as a songwriter. This time around, he might even agree.
The infamous Beta Band frontman could have lingered in the shadow of his cult-figure fandom; instead, on his fourth solo album, he sings directly about the long process of growing up.
Following 2016's excellent Meet the Humans, former Beta Band mastermind Steve Mason takes a more organic and collaborative approach on his fourth solo album, About the Light.
The fourth solo album from The Beta Band's Steve Mason, About the Light is an instant classic that merges different genres in a surprisingly cohesive manner.
In 2018 The Beta Band reissued some of their catalogue, ready for them to be devoured and delighted in by a new generation.
On new album About the Light, Steve Mason comes across as an artist unafraid of the obvious.