ALBUM REVIEW: As Mightmare, Sarah Shook Trades Confident Twang for Brooding Pop

Amidst all its hardships, the pandemic has continued to inspire intriguing creative responses. Mightmare, for example, is the surprising and satisfying solo project of North Carolina’s Sarah Shook, known for fronting the stellar roots-rockin’ group The Disarmers. Conceived and executed entirely on their own (except for bass on some songs), the remarkable Cruel Liars unleashes the piercing cry of a heart in lockdown, wrestling with a crushing burden of emotions.

Trading the twang and stomp of a confident band for one person’s brooding version of chamber pop, this stark album presents compelling relationship scenarios stripped down to bare essentials. Over eight tracks running just under 30 minutes, Shook challenges disappointing partners to do better and tries to face difficult truths, hitching concise lyrics to ominous melodies in telling these unsparing tales.

It’s easy to imagine Shook home alone, stewing over frustrations before composing Mightmare’s anguished songs. The opening track, “Come What May,” laments a breakup, confessing, “I had no spine / To speak my mind / And say I’ll always love you.” Highlighted by a creepy keyboard riff straight from horror movies, the title tune wonders, “How can I live with myself? / Love’s end descends us into hell,” although “Make It Work” glimpses hope, declaring, “If we’re gonna make it work / You’re gonna have to change some things.”

Shook’s wonderfully expressive voice is the reason these doleful songs crackle with life instead of sinking under the weight of regret and resentment. The whiskey-and-cigarettes tint of their singing with The Disarmers remains, but the softer textures of Cruel Liars produce an arresting contrast of salty and sweet, while the vibrant high-lonesome harmonies created by an army of overdubbed Shooks can be electrifying.

Near the end of the album, the clouds part for the charming “Easy.” Buoyed by a lively beat, Shook embraces pure joy, singing, “Beautiful dreams come true / It’s so easy to love you … you are too good to me.” After so much angst, this bubbly track is a delightful reminder that love can be uplifting as well as stressful.

Returning to earth, Cruel Liars closes on a memorably elegant note with the pensive “Sure Thing,” which finds Shook gently “quieting my mind” and attempting to come to terms with loss, concluding, “The only thing I know for sure / Is there’s no such thing as a sure thing.” Accepting uncertainty with grace may be the best strategy when life goes awry, now or any other time.

Mightmare’s Cruel Liars is out Oct. 14 on Kill Rock Stars.