For Bright Light Social Hour frontman Curtis Roush, sorrow sparked Cosmic Campfire Music, a solo project that feels at once intensely intimate and slightly distant. Following a breakup and the death of BLSH manager Alex O’Brien, Roush sought solace in Marfa. The results are beautiful in that West Texas way – sparse, quiet, expansive, unhurried. These are hushed songs for nights under big skies, more stargaze than shoegaze. Roush plays every instrument on the soulful, self-recorded affair, with simple drum loops grounding acoustic and electric guitars, percussion, and a warm blanket of synth. Outro “Space Is Empty (Come With Me)” stares straight into the abyss: “Off to settle space, come with me/ Cold and dark without your love, it’s empty.” (11:15am, Miller Lite stage)
This article appears in October 12 • 2018.
