Covenhoven - The Color of the Dark (2025) Hi-Res

Joel Van Horne has been releasing quietly cinematic music for over a decade now. Recording under the name Covenhoven, his songs have reflected the understated beauty of the less visited corners of his home of Colorado – it’s music that you listen to during those long, dusty drives between celebrated destinations but, like those journeys, it’s what ends up, unexpectedly, sticking with you. His fifth full-length album, The Color of the Dark, continues Van Horne’s recent trend toward gradually opening his music to a bigger sonic palette while keeping all of the lyrical intimacy he’s had since day one.

The Color of the Dark’s first track, “Only Time Can Tell,” begins, appropriately enough, on the road. Backed by piano and Ben Waligoske’s pedal steel, Van Horne sings of “Golden sunlight on the highway.” While uncertainty is the focus of many a road song (even here, Van Horne expresses doubt – “Thought the lights were coming my way But they just keep passing on the left”), it’s immutable truth that comes up during this roadie: “Of all the things that time will break/ Time will never break a promise.” Next up, “Getaway Car” is, surprisingly, a downshift. The pensive piano tune has Van Horne fighting a lack of confidence – “I was fumbling my words” – while never losing himself – “but the words were mine.”

Van Horne plays the bulk of the music The Color of the Dark, and Covenhoven’s live shows, whether it’s Van Horne solo, with a single accompanist, or surrounded by a full band, always reflect the intimacy of his DIY approach. Some of the most memorable moments on the record, though, come via his collaborators. Whether it’s Waligoske’s achingly subtle pedal steel, Sarah Elstran’s ghostly echo of a vocal on “The Rhyme is Not the Meaning,” or Aaron Strumpel’s whisper of horns on “The Lining,” every instrument is exactly where it should be, leaving room for Van Horne’s voice to either murmur or soar, depending on what the song calls for. But the best moments on any Covenhoven album are the most intimate ones. “All The Way to Nowhere” is a quiet, acoustic tune with just a little bit of a country feel and some gorgeous guitar work from Van Horne. And maybe it was because I was listening to the album on a rainy/snowy/misty/foggy (i.e. very Colorado) early April day, but the song’s opening lines – “May was called down through the colors/Just in time to see the bloom” – gave a reminder that winter would, someday soon, end. And that’s what a Covenhoven song does so often – points out that little bit of hope just down the road a piece.

Song I Can’t Wait to Hear Live: “Brighter Days” – This heartland rocker, paced by piano and Tyler Cuchiara’s drums, has Van Horne pushing himself away from his past, if a bit reluctantly – “I wanna start all the changes/If somebody’s gotta win the race, might as well be me” – and wraps with something not common to a Covenhoven record – a guitar solo!