The Cush

New Appreciation for Sunshine (self-release)

By Anne C. Johnson
Published: December 6th, 2005 | 2:49pm

Three years in the making, New Appreciation for Sunshine is The Cush’s second release and first since its co-founders, husband and wife Burette and Gabrielle Douglas, relocated from Dallas, Texas, to Burlington, Vermont. Perhaps the colder weather has gained the band not only new respect for the sun, but also for their southern roots. In honor of these roots, The Cush has adopted some alt-country to their music – it’s almost as if Big Star met My Bloody Valentine.

Now a five-piece, The Cush has a wonderful way of making the listener want to hang on every note, especially on “You’re Free,” the slightly Pink Floyd “Roll Me,” and “Seagreen,” which features Burette’s John Lennon-like vocals. The band’s sound is so lavish and ornately layered, but the production is such that almost every musical part is made available and as clear as a cold night in January. Unfortunately the vocals are the only frustratingly muddied element of the mix.

Sometimes New Appreciation… makes you feel as lonely the line “she don’t care you’re gone” off “Roll Me” would, but you are quickly reassured by the warmth created elsewhere on the album, particularly by the comfort Gabrielle Douglas’s vocals bring. Throughout the different seasons the band explores, The Cush has the ability to both isolate and envelope. Their sound has added dimensions not unlike the forests and mountains that cover their newly chosen state.