Interview Amber Webber of Lightning Dust

It's hard to imagine the rise of Vancouver rock outfit Black Mountain happening without singer Amber Webber, who adds her dramatic wails and harmonies (and plenty of great leads--just listen to the song "Queens Will Play") to Stephen McBean's more straightforward vocals. Webber's voice has a commanding but volatile quality to it: Where some singers have a vibrato, Webber has an almost physical shudder. "Sometimes I wish it would mellow out a bit, actually," she says. Between touring and recording two albums with Black Mountain, Webber and Joshua Wells have found time to work on their band Lightning Dust, putting out a self-titled album in 2007 and recording their second (Infinite Light, due out this summer) last year. It's much more quiet, minimally arranged stuff, helping put the spotlight on Webber's voice, which carries some eerily beautiful melodies over sparse acoustic guitar, organ, and piano. Before her show May 24 at 7th Street Entry with Cotton Jones, Webber told Decider about the band's new material and upcoming tour dates with Bonnie "Prince" Billy.

Decider: You said you'll be playing songs from the forthcoming album on this tour. How do they differ from the first album?
Amber Webber: I'd say this next album's a bit more of a pop album, maybe. It's not as moody, and it has maybe more instrumentation. The subjects are a bit more just about having fun, as opposed to what you think about at night in the dark when you're alone. It's more of a peppy album, I guess. I love Black Mountain because I get to wail, sing, and be in a rock band. It's really fun and exciting and stuff. When we did the first Lightning Dust, I was craving a mellow vibe, simply because I was touring in a rock band for so many years. So that took care of that. This next Lightning Dust--I love pop music, and it's definitely not pop--but it is a bit poppier. I was maybe trying to fill a musical void.

D: At Black Mountain shows, you're very front-and-center, so Lightning Dust must feel pretty different.
AW: Well, when I walk onstage with Lightning Dust, it's like the first time I've ever played again. It's like all the years of touring in other bands are completely erased, first of all because I'm playing guitar, which I never do. I was second guitar player in Pink Mountaintops for a while, so that wasn't very stressful, but it's very nerve-wracking for me to play my songs on guitar, because I'm definitely not much of a guitar player. I think the whole sit-down thing makes it feel more like you're just playing in your living room, so it's more comfortable. Although lately we've been standing, and now it's a four-piece.

D: It seems the writing in Lightning Dust is a little more personal, or at least first-person.
AW: It's funny, because I write like that, but I'll have a scenario or a story a friend tells me in mind. I'll write it like it's about myself, but usually it's something like a story I heard or a book I read, or something like that, and I personalize it. It's rarely ever about a situation in my life. I like the way Steve writes in Black Mountain, for the reason that it is really abstract and you don't ever know what the hell he's talking about. Which is kind of cool, because you can personalize it more, even, than you could when you hear somebody singing about what sounds like their life. I like his lyrics, because you get your own little personal visual.

D: Your sister Ashley also sings with Bonnie "Prince" Billy, and you've got some shows coming up where you're opening for him.
AW: Yeah, she did that one album with him, Lie Down In The Light. I think it's one of my favorite Bonnie "Prince" Billy albums. I think we have nine shows coming up with him. I'm excited about that. It'll be nice to have Lightning Dust playing in theaters. I know [Will Oldham's] been a Lightning Dust fan for a while. We haven't put out an album in two years, so it's nice that he thought to ask us to come along. It's kind of nice to get out before the new album comes up. It gives you more freedom to screw up the lyrics and fuck up the songs and no one knows any better. [Laughs.]