By: Rob Perez –
If there’s such a thing as alt folk, Krisina Stykos embodies the spirit of punk, country, spoken word, angst, and of course folk in her stellar album, River of Light. Her songwriting, which mixes edgy poetic lyrics with phenomenal guitar playing, gives you a first-hand look at the realities of small town/rural life. It’s not a pretty picture, but it’s 100% real, honest songwriting.
Songs such as “Since You Asked” that describes heartache, or “Blessed Light”, that describes going through hardships and learning from it, to the very poetic and emotional “State Line Diner” may have an overall theme of despair but there’s also light at the end of the dark tunnel.
If it isn’t the songwriting, it’ll be the stellar music that gets you hooked. River of Light is as real an album from as real an artist as you get, and that’s refreshing!