The opening track on The Cavalry of Light, “You Broke My Heart,” repeats its title over and over again many times, growing from plaintive and sweet to righteous and spirited. At first it seems like vocalist Becky Stark will never provide us with any other information. It becomes clear as the mood of the delivery constantly changes that this is a line you could easily repeat in your head millions of times when you are truly still working out your emotions. With each variation in its delivery, I can feel the different moods and colors this experience is dragging Stark through. She then breaks the repetition and goes on to let us into the story a little more. It turns into a testament to being strong in a break no matter how weak you actually are.
That first song sets the rest of the EP up to be the calm after the storm, where you still feel fragile, but your spirits are good and more importantly getting better. The remaining three tracks give the feel of someone spending the night in, reading, sipping tea, journal writing, healing, and getting back to neutral. There is an emotional sincerity to the performances throughout each song that is rare, refreshing, and very capable of taking you along on the journey. The music takes traditional folk instrumentation and string accompaniment to a place that sounds familiar yet unique with every change following the emotional arc. For “In Heaven There Is No Heat,” percussionist Ron Rege, Jr. thumps out a bass drum heart beat throughout a tune that switches back and forth between melancholy and whimsically hopeful. “Rise In the Springtime” is the final moment of rebirth after twists and turns of an emotional time. Lavender Diamond put sincerity, feeling, and engaging sounds into their brand of folk. They give what can very often be a predictable genre a nice breath of fresh air.
