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With their second release, Cleveland-based art rockers ITEM have created a layered record entrenched in the twinkly modulated idioms of slowcore and shoegaze with flourishes of adventurous 60s pop-rock songcraft. Sad Light unfolds as a crisp miasma of effected guitars, affecting lyrics, and effective synths and harmonies. Opening with the polished dizzy garage track ‘Horse Pill’, it staggers on with an unbalanced guitar riff reflecting the tranquilizer lyrics, lifting to a clean, somber mood reminiscent of midwestern malaise. Off-kilter melodies wander your head with propulsive rhythms and words creating an uncanny sense of time and space. ‘Somersault’ contrasts this with a twee half-recollection of regretful past actions planting a seed of ennui. It sets the stage for the rest of the record’s themes, ending on washed out pop-rock harmonies. The intimate words are lifted with structured crescendos dovetailing into personal yet relatable songs telling stories of relationships, addiction and recovery wrapped in a haze of somber reflection. Thoughtful production gives depth to these 8 tracks through beachy harmonies and synth sounds of forgotten exotica records. Wrapping up the themes of the previous tracks is the crashing crescendo of The Way Its Going, a slow-motion tidal wave of orchestral synths and reverberated guitar for a cinematic impact. These parts are all combined thoughtfully to create music occupying a space above sonic throwbacks and into something special.