It’s wild to think that There Is Nothing In The Dark That Isn’t There In The Light is Tom Smith’s first proper solo outing. The long-time frontman of post-punk revivalists Editors has always wielded a voice that lands like a soulful hammer, and here he uses it to anchor a collection steeped in atmospheric, acoustic-leaning folk.

For the most part, it’s a gentle, quietly gripping record—one that whispers into the void rather than shouting back at it. Tracks like “Deep Dive” and “How Many Times” ache with loneliness and flickers of memory, but Smith holds the melancholy with enough restraint that it never dips into the cloying “hey-ho” sentimentality that often weighs down contemporary folk. Instead, his lyrics carry the weight: meditations on longing and devotion sung with the gravity of someone who feels ancient, as though he’s lived several lives and is reporting back from each.

The instrumentation adds even more depth—the smoky jazz trumpet on “Lights of New York City,” the Springsteen-by-way-’80s glow of “Leave.” It all folds into a record that feels both searching and soothing. A calming album for troubled times, which, in the end, is what the best folk has always managed to be.