Bright Black Night. Mystery Waitress

The singles 'Night Bug' and 'In A Shell' promised a lot, including a very varied album. Mystery Waitress delivered in a few ways.

Mystery Waitress is a band from New Zealand that has its foundation in the solo career of its singer and songwriter Tessa Dillon. Her outings in music, writing and performing led to her album '11.11'. In the mean time she was thinking of starting a band. First on board was drummer Olivia Campion. They played exactly one show together before Australian James Morgan joined. The three recorded Mystery Waitress' debut album 'Nest', where apparently synths played a large roll. It took a bit longer before bassist Xanthe Rook joined. You do not find anything on this history on the blog, so this passed me totally by.

That synth, as we can all hear on Bright Black Night, has been replaced by a guitar. In some songs not just a little. Mystery Waitress can be called an indie guitar band. The louder songs are enclosed by softer songs at the beginning and end of the album, giving Bright Black Night two very distinct moods. Both work I can share.

The album opens with the title song. A mood is set straight away. One of mystery and anticipation. Two guitars are played, a cymbal is crashed. One plays a complex sounding set of notes, the second is the distorted lead guitar. Behind it the bass and later the drums come in. Tessa Dillon sings with a large reverb on her voice, making it sound like Lana del Rey in a rock context. The song does not really have a rhythm it seems. Everything is accents, except for the central riff like picked notes. Despite the song not being easily to digest, its mood has captured me totally and sucked me into the album. The situation an artist or band wants me to be in.

'Console' adds to this mood. The tempo is higher but still in the mid range, while the drums play a pattern that is moving towards a supportive drum part. The guitars again play their intricate dance together but are joined by a piano playing straightforward chords. I'm hearing Reb Fountain as well but with loud guitars. Mystery Waitress is able to create an atmosphere that is just as mystic as what Reb Fountain shares with her listeners.

Promo photo: Lewis Ferrris

From here Mystery Waitress moves into the alternative and indie rock more and more. The guitars become more pronounced and distorted. Tessa Dillon remains the same though. 'Mountain' uses a lot of dynamics from clean to loud and dirty and back. There's a part though where I can't stop singing Chris Isaac's biggest hit, 'Wicked Game', over a part pf 'Mountain'. The song is different enough, it's the riff that brings it to mind constantly. 'Mountain' is a great song in its own right. I love how it rages in the intro, is kicked back into its cage and is released again. Three songs in, the build up of Bright Black Light so far is fantastic.

With single 'Night Bug' straightforward rock comes into the album. The song rocks in a mix of a Christine McVie Fleetwood Mac song and Buffalo Tom, something like that. In other words there is a lot to enjoy here, even when a song just rocks and has a nice chorus.

The three songs that follow are somewhere in between what I have just described. They move somewhere between that mysterious, add some darkness ('Pt. 1 Hospital'), add some The Pretenders' rock ('Pt. 2 Tiger') and melodically rocks in 'Surfer'. A special question is asked in this song, "what if I die tomorrow?".

It all ends with that special song 'In A Shell', that having heard Bright Black Night as a whole is even more special and impressive. You have read a lot of names with which I reference the music I've just heard several times. Famous names even. Don't be fooled by the namedropping. Mystery Waitress has released an album that is special, stands out and has the potential to grow into a special album. I am totally impressed by it. To return to Mystery Waitress' question above, you will have left behind a tremendously good album. Your untimely death will be accompanied by a feeling of loss with all of us fans, as we will never get the chance to hear more in the future. So please, don't let the way the guitar sounds in 'In A Shell' be a premonition. I'm dropping the final name, Jeff Buckley.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

You can listen to and order Bright Black Night here:

https://mysterywaitress.bandcamp.com/album/bright-black-night