Kevin Bronson on February 27th, 2021

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Starlight Cleaning Co. unites the talents of Rachel Dean and Tim Paul Gray, who makes their home base in the High Desert and whose first single sounds perfect for the open roads in those environs.

The project got its start when Dean and Gray met at Pappy & Harriet’s and the duo merged their solo projects into a band about three years ago. This week, they announced that the first Starlight Cleaning Co. album, a self-titled affair, will be out May 21 via Kentucky-based SofaBurn Records. Produced by Bart Davenport and engineered by Joel Jerome, the album resides in the ’70s-era slipstream of cosmic Americana native to the desert.

The Dean-Gray harmonies shine on the lead single “Don’t Take It Away.” Moreover, the album features contributions from their mentor and friend Neal Casal, the revered guitarist who died in 2019.

“This record is a reflection of our life together as well as the individual paths that led us here: the struggles, uncertainty, the hopefulness and love,” Dean says. “We hope that it resonates with others in their lives and brings us together as we all seem to deal with these common themes. We dedicate this album, in loving memory, to our dear friend Neal Casal.”

||| Stream: “Don’t Take It Away”