Jerry Cantrell - Brighten
On October 29, 2021, Jerry Cantrell released his third solo album, "Brighten".
Nineteen years separated "Degradation Trip" from this record, and you can hear a musician allowing his songs more room to breathe. The riffs retain their familiar weight and the harmonies still cast shadows across the melodies, while sunlight, country textures and tenderness find their way in. Cantrell brings those qualities to the foreground, and their meeting gives "Brighten" its particular charm.
After the touring cycle for "Rainier Fog" in 2019, Jerry turned his attention back to recording under his own name. "Alice In Chains" remained his main musical home, while a solo project offered the freedom to choose players and arrangements around each song. His Los Angeles solo shows in December 2019 helped establish several of the partnerships that would carry into the album.
Recording began in March 2020, just days before lockdown disrupted the sessions. Film composer and producer Tyler Bates worked alongside longtime recording engineer Paul Figueroa, also known as Paul Fig, with Joe Barresi handling the mix. Much of the basic tracking was already complete when the shutdown arrived. Vocals and additional guitars were subsequently recorded at Cantrell's home. The delay stretched the process, but also made room for musicians who would not have been available under the original schedule.
Gil Sharone and Abe Laboriel Jr., known for his work with Paul McCartney, share drumming duties. Duff McKagan contributes bass on selected tracks, with Jerry also playing bass. Greg Puciato supplies backing vocals and harmonies, Michael Rozon adds pedal steel, and Vincent Jones and Jordan Lewis contribute keyboards and piano, with Lola Bates and Matias Ambrogi-Torres also among the contributors. The keyboards and pedal steel give the arrangements warmth and space, while the vocal harmonies bind those colors to Cantrell's unmistakable musical language.
(Photo: frontview-magazine)
"Atone" opens with a heavy, dusty stride. Acoustic guitar pushes the rhythm forward, electrics tighten the tension, and Jerry's voice searches for redemption above it all. Cantrell said the idea had followed him for more than twenty years, with the atmosphere drawing on Sergio Leone's westerns and Ennio Morricone's scores. You can feel that landscape, but the chorus and harmonies bring the drama back to the person moving through it.
The title track, "Brighten", gives the album a different lift through big chords and an open melody. Its weight invites you to sing along, and the combination of Cantrell's voice and Puciato's harmonies deepens the chorus without crowding it. Jerry's experience as a songwriter is particularly audible here. He knows how much tension an immediate, accessible song can hold.
A gentler side emerges in "Prism of Doubt", with its country inflections and quietly persistent melody, and in "Black Hearts and Evil Done", whose acoustic opening expands into a longer, more emotionally charged journey. The latter's threatening title meets a longing for feeling and connection, giving the song a vulnerable human center. "Nobody Breaks You" reaches into similarly exposed territory. Cantrell explained that one of its underlying ideas concerns the harshness we direct toward ourselves, sometimes more severely than anyone else does.
For us, "Siren Song" is one of the album's peaks. Its delicate opening leaves space around the voice, and when the heavier guitars arrive they amplify the longing already present. Piano and pedal steel add depth, while the movement between intimacy and power feels natural. Here, Jerry's country roots and his heavier musical vocabulary sound especially comfortable together.
The nine-track record closes with "Goodbye", written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin for 1971's "Madman Across the Water". After eight originals, Jerry chooses a brief, fragile farewell, centered on his voice and Vincent Jones's arrangement. Their personal connection adds meaning to the performance. Elton had previously played piano on "Black Gives Way to Blue", written in memory of Layne Staley. This time, Cantrell sent him the cover and received his blessing to include it.
Despite its range of musicians and textures, "Brighten" retains an intimate feel. Some of the middle tracks leave less of an immediate impression than the three singles, and the measured pace rewards patient listening, but the warm sound and melodic writing keep drawing us back. The heavier, darker direction of its 2024 successor, "I Want Blood", would further underline this record's distinctive place in his catalog.
For us, the strength of "Brighten" lies in Cantrell's ability to carry his past into songs with room to breathe. The vulnerability, guitars and harmonies remain familiar, yet they offer a different encounter with the songwriter behind them. The more time we spend with this record, the more natural that light feels.
For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music
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