ALBUM REVIEW: Not Here Not Gone – Blackwater Holylight

Over the course of a decade, American dreamy hard rock trio BLACKWATER HOLYLIGHT have been forging a wicked, juxtaposing soundscape. Arriving five years after 2021’s Silence/Motion, album number four, Not Here Not Gone, sees BLACKWATER HOLYLIGHT flex their creative muscles, delivering their best record to date.

Driven by a shared collective desire to break free from the shackles of familiarity – and a move from the Pacific Northwest to Los Angeles –  Not Here Not Gone is a record rich in dualities, and it’s a thrilling ride. Album opener How Will You Feel is reflective and measured in tone, easing the listener in with a gorgeous melody of fuzzy riffs and Sunny Faris‘ sultry vocals. It’s instant immersion and a fine way to start the album indeed.

What makes Not Here Not Gone truly excel though is BLACKWATER HOLYLIGHT‘s ace in the hole in the effortless way in which the record unfolds its numerous layers. Lead single Heavy, Why? is a fine example of this as the trio put their musical duality front and centre and the result is nothing short of euphoric, especially in the song’s later stages. Effortlessly bleeding from a mid-tempo beat into a uptempo swing of psych-driven rhythms, here, the trio gel like a well-oiled machine to deliver a passage of play that is nothing short of world class.

Elsewhere, Bodies has a living soul that reflects the embrace of the Californian sun which elevates the grooves and riffs to make a real connection, while the likes of Fade and epic album closer Poppyfields show a band really stretching their wings, displaying layered instrumentation with expertise. There’s a sharp edge too, with the instrumental Giraffe being incredibly dense and oppressive in nature, while Spades is Not Here Not Gone at its heaviest, and it’s a song born for the small confines of doom dive bars.

With Not Here Not Gone, BLACKWATER HOLYLIGHT deliver a superb and evocative album, one that is full of character and stand-out moments. There’s been something special brewing in the water in the band’s first decade together, but with album number four, BLACKWATER HOLYLIGHT have struck the motherload. This is a band at the top of their game and marks one of 2026’s first major highlights.

Rating: 9/10

Not Here Not Gone is out now via Suicide Squeeze Records. 

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