''Not Dark Yet'' is a duet album between sisters and country/Americana singer-songwriters

Shelby Lynne Shelby Lynne (born Shelby Lynn Moorer, October 22, 1968) is an American singer and songwriter and the older sister of singer-songwriter Allison Moorer. The success of her pop rock album '' I Am Shelby Lynne'' (1999) led to her winning the Grammy ...

and

Allison Moorer Allison Moorer (born June 21, 1972) is an American singer/songwriter. She signed with MCA Nashville in 1997 and made her debut on the U.S. Billboard Country Chart with the release of her debut single, “A Soft Place To Fall,” which she co-wr ...

. Produced by British folk artist

Teddy Thompson Teddy Thompson (born 19 February 1976) is an English folk and rock musician. He is the son of folk rock musicians Richard and Linda Thompson and brother of singer Kamila Thompson. He released his first album in 2000. Biography Teddy Thompson ...

, ''Not Dark Yet'' was released on August 18, 2017. It is Moorer's ninth studio album, Lynne's fifteenth and marks the first official studio collaboration between the siblings. The title track is taken from the

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

song of the same name. ''Not Dark Yet'' features covers of songs from a variety of genres and also includes an original song written by Lynne and Moorer. On August 10, 2017, the album was available to listen to in its entirety on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

as part of their "first listen" series.

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's Thom Jurek says, "Despite singing together since they were old enough to talk, it took a lifetime for sisters Shelby Lynne and Allison Moorer to record together." Will Hermes reviewed the album for ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' and gave it 3½ out of a possible 5 stars. He writes, "the title track is the crown jewel, showing the river-deep musicality of a latter-day Dylan croaker when it’s parsed by immaculate, blood-kin harmony." ''

Paste Magazine ''Paste'' is a monthly music and entertainment digital magazine, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with studios in Atlanta and Manhattan, and owned by Paste Media Group. The magazine began as a website in 1998. It ran as a print publication fro ...

s Jon Young rates this album an 8.8 and says, "''Not Dark Yet'' works beautifully. Featuring nine covers and one devastating original, this lovely longplayer spotlights their tangy harmonies, with Lynne’s saltier vocals and Moorer’s sweeter singing intertwining gracefully, evoking ancient traditions of family music-making." ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

Richard Driver gives the album 8 out of a possible 10 and writes, "The most surprising element to this enjoyable and thoughtful album is that this is their first duet album. That the songs are covers is ultimately irrelevant to the care, arrangements, and deliberate duet Lynne and Moorer deliver, the songs finding their strength and shared focus to push ahead after loss."

Commercial performance

The album debuted at No. 8 on both the Billboard's Americana/Folk Albums and Independent Albums charts, and No. 39 on Top Country Albums, with 3,700 copies sold in the first week. It has sold 6,400 copies as of September 2017.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from

. *Russ Allen – assistant * Scott Campbell – engineer *Erik Deutsch – organ, piano *Sarah Ellison Lewis – photography *Don Heffington – drums, percussion * Mark Howard – mixing, special sound *

Michael Jerome Michael Jerome Moore, known as Michael Jerome is an American rock musician and drummer. He is a former member of the Toadies (1990–91), Course of Empire (1994–1998), and James Hall's band Pleasure Club, which was formed in 2002. He was a ...

– drums, percussion *

Peter Lyman George Peter Lyman (September 13, 1940 in San Francisco – July 2, 2007 in Berkeley, California) was an American professor of information science who taught at the University of California, Berkeley School of Information, and was well known in U. ...

– mastering *

– lead vocals, harmony vocals, acoustic guitar *

Val McCallum Valentine McCallum (born 10 October 1963) is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter. Career McCallum has toured with, and served as a studio musician for many well-known musicians. He toured with Jackson Browne, and McCallum's musical resume ...

– acoustic guitar, electric guitar *

– lead vocals, harmony vocals, acoustic guitar, piano *

Davey Faragher David Allen "Davey" Faragher (born August 18, 1957) is an American bass guitarist from Redlands, California. Faragher's career took off and received critical notice as a founding member of the nineties band Cracker, and his subsequent work wit ...

– bass guitar *Ben Peeler – electric guitar, pedal steel guitar *

Doug Pettibone Doug Pettibone (born in Los Angeles, California) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and studio musician. Career Doug Pettibone started to play the guitar at the age of eight. His first teacher was Andy Summers, formerly of The Police ...

– acoustic guitar, electric guitar *Taras Prodaniuk – bass *

Benmont Tench Benjamin Montmorency "Benmont" Tench III (born September 7, 1953) is an American musician and singer, and a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Early years Tench was born in Gainesville, Florida, the second child of Benjamin ...

– keyboard, organ, piano, wurlitzer *

– producer, bass, drums, acoustic guitar, background vocals

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2017 albums Shelby Lynne albums Allison Moorer albums