MUSIC: Dirty Beaches

Originally Posted on The Yale Herald via UWIRE

Are you fond of the loud drone of a slow-moving City of New Haven emergency vehicle? Then I think you’ll find Dirty Beaches’ new album Drifters / Love is The Devil suits your tastes quite well. This album functions as a banal musical explanation of the Doppler effect, as high-pitched tones swivel into a disastrous disharmony over the course of 16 long, long tracks.

Drifters’ first track, “Night Walk,” is perhaps the most promising on the album, as it easily recalls back to elements from Dirty Beaches’ first album, Badlands. The groove moves at a steady pace, and it emphasizes the excellent producing that Alex Hungtai, the Taiwanese singer and producer of Dirty Beaches, had so excelled at in his 2011 debut. Hungtai’s sophomore album, on the other hand, emphasizes the minutiae of protracted sounds, and at times it is strikingly beautiful. Title track “Love is The Devil” is a puzzling journey through a harmonious yet eerie synth track, and following song “Alone At The Danube River” is a sincere mourning of a high-toned bass guitar over the course of seven incredibly emotive minutes.

Yet Drifters also creates an incredibly dark and heavy tone for most of its songs, and those songs heavily detract from the exemplary moments that Hungtai offers on this album. His experimentation with disharmonious electronics is simply unpleasant to listen to. I’m all for experimentation—but Dirty Beaches does so in a way that makes Drifters to be a puzzling and uncomfortable listen.

To be succinct, Drifters / Love is The Devil has some great moments that are worth a listen, and if you’re willing to invest time into the album, it’ll grow on you. But if you’re looking for a relaxing, simple, enjoy the sun album, then search elsewhere.

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