Moving on tends to hurt. Even if it’s good; even when it’s necessary. From that inescapable ache Paige Anderson begins Two Runner’s latest album, Porchlight: “How many times have you left / A life you’ve always known?” The answer hangs in the question’s implication — in the mere prospect of that kind of monumental departure.
Porchlight is Anderson’s first release as Two Runner solo, after parting ways with creative partner, Emilie Rose. It also follows the end of a long-term romantic relationship. The loss is as palpable as her determination to make something new and great out of the unknown.
Nowhere is the beauty and grace Anderson finds in this dichotomy clearer than on the driving yet melancholy “Helmet.” “There’s a bend in the sky in mid July / And it seems we gotta’ run to chase the sun / So I take a breath, and tighten the straps of my helmet,” Anderson sings about the powerful, elemental allure of a road that goes on and on — especially on a motorcycle.
