ALBUM REVIEW: Mightmare – Cruel Liars

Kill Rock Stars

Released: 14.10.22

Cruel Liars is the first album from Sarah Shook’s new solo project, Mightmare. Shook takes full control of their music, engineering and producing it; exploring the catharsis of therapy and recovery discovered during lockdown.

The result is texturally rich: ambient, stompy, a bit country, thoroughly enjoyable. The consistency of style means it sometimes feels as though the songs on Cruel Liars are all one extended piece, and so a bit unrelenting. But the confrontational tone is sweetened by the unexpectedly upbeat Easy. Seven songs in, its sweetness elevates the other tracks, light to shadow. In Come What May, Shook wails “I’m being so strong, doing my own thing. Was it all for nothing?” No. This is lush.