Eli Winter A Trick Of The Light
Eli Winter's A Trick Of The Light stakes out a widened sonic terrain where cosmic country and Americana expand into improvisational, ensemble-led epics. Across four professional reviews the record earned an 81.5/100 consensus score, with critics consistently pointing to the opening suite “Arabian Nightingale”, the plaintive title cut “A Trick of the Light” and the elegiac “For a Fallen Rocket” as its most compelling moments. Those tracks exemplify the album's strengths: melodic clarity wrapped in widescreen arrangements and timbral contrast.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
A Trick of the Light
4 mentions
"The title track brings in bassist Mike Watt and guitarist David Grubbs for a patient meditation, the most brooding track on the album"— PopMatters
Arabian Nightingale
4 mentions
"rework Don Cherry’s “Arabian Nightingale”, expanding the piece to over 16 minutes"— PopMatters
For a Fallen Rocket
4 mentions
"“For a Fallen Rocket” sounds like a slightly avant version of the American West, its energetic but elegiac tone"— PopMatters
The title track brings in bassist Mike Watt and guitarist David Grubbs for a patient meditation, the most brooding track on the album
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
Arabian Nightingale
For a Fallen Rocket
Cracking the Jaw
Ida Lupino
A Trick of the Light
Black Iris on a Burning Quilt
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 4 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
Eli Winter makes a convincing turn on A Trick Of The Light, where expansive, electrified arrangements elevate songs like “A Trick of the Light” and “Ida Lupino”. The reviewer's prose likes the record's cosmic country leanings and full-band textures, praising the pedal steel partnership and moments of widescreen atmosphere. It highlights “A Trick of the Light” as a centerpiece and singles out “Ida Lupino” for its emotional clarity. Overall the reviewer frames the album as a successful broadening of Winter's palette, pointing listeners to the best tracks and their reasons.
Key Points
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The title track is best for its widescreen, electrified arrangement and centerpiece feel.
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The album's core strength is its successful expansion from finger-picked guitar to full-band, cosmic country textures.
Themes
Critic's Take
Eli Winter’s A Trick of the Light finds its best songs in expansiveness and mood, with the opening “Arabian Nightingale” and the plaintive title track standing out. The reviewer's sentences linger on how “Arabian Nightingale” becomes something else as the band stretches it into a 16-minute statement, and he praises the patient, brooding meditation of “A Trick of the Light”. He singles out “For a Fallen Rocket” for its energetic but elegiac turn and credits “Black Iris on a Burning Quilt” with offering a shifty, hopeful closure. Overall, the best tracks on A Trick of the Light are those that trade tidy classification for evocative, restless exploration.
Key Points
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The best song is the expansive opening “Arabian Nightingale” because it is reworked into a 16-minute statement that redefines genre boundaries.
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The album’s core strengths are its genre-spanning arrangements, cohesion amid improvisation, and emotional arc from brooding to tentative peace.
Themes
Critic's Take
Eli Winter wanders through West Texas on A Trick of the Light, and the best songs on the record make that journey feel tangible - chief among them are “Arabian Nightingale” and “Cracking the Jaw”. The opener “Arabian Nightingale” unfolds like a caravan, building to a maelstrom before circling back, which is precisely why it stands out as one of the best tracks on A Trick of the Light. Meanwhile “Cracking the Jaw” functions as the album's emotional anchor, the closest thing Winter has to a pop song and a clear standout for structure and immediacy. The title track, “A Trick of the Light”, captures the record's improvisational oasis feeling, and together these songs show why the album's strength is its balance of restraint and free-flowing collaboration.
Key Points
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The best song, "Arabian Nightingale", is best for its sprawling journey, improvisational climax, and clever reinterpretation of Don Cherry.
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The album’s core strengths are its immediacy and collaborative arrangements that balance structure with free-flowing improvisation.
Themes
Critic's Take
In his typically observant voice Darryl Sterdan finds Eli Winter's A Trick Of The Light at the height of his powers, and he singles out the expansive “Arabian Nightingale” and the plaintive “For A Fallen Rocket” as the album's clearest triumphs. Sterdan praises the audacity of the nearly 14-minute full-band opening suite, calling it a dazzling, suite-like statement that sets a high bar, while noting “For A Fallen Rocket” foregrounds Winter's melodic gifts. He also values the title track and “Black Iris On A Burning Quilt” for providing dramatic contrast and cinematic closure, making this a best-tracks-on-A Trick Of The Light list that rewards both epic reach and intimate melodicism.
Key Points
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The best song, “Arabian Nightingale”, is best for its audacious, suite-like full-band arrangement and dazzling intensity.
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The album's core strengths are Winter's melodic gift, deft arrangements, and the elastic interplay of a sympathetic ensemble.