{"id":16363,"date":"2019-04-13T05:30:37","date_gmt":"2019-04-13T09:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=16363"},"modified":"2019-03-25T16:30:31","modified_gmt":"2019-03-25T20:30:31","slug":"album-review-day-dream-with-every-breath-you-die","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2019\/04\/13\/album-review-day-dream-with-every-breath-you-die\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Day & Dream — With Every Breath You Die"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Though it kicks off with the brief \u201cAnd So It Begins,\u201d sporting a watery guitar figure that recalls Todd Rundgren\u2019s \u201cTiny Demons,\u201d Day & Dream\u2019s With Every Breath You Die<\/i> quickly shifts gears into a wholly different style. On representative tracks like \u201cNight Lights,\u201d the Asheville dream-pop\/shoegaze band crafts a sound that suggests the influence of (or at least like-mindedness with) artists as diverse as the Cure, Shelleyan Orphan, Jesus & Mary Chain and Beach House.<\/p>\n

What those acts (and, by association, Day & Dream) share is a commitment to starting with an appealing melodic figure \u2013 if not always what\u2019s traditionally considered a \u201chook\u201d \u2013 and adorning it with a deeply textured arrangement that simultaneously gives it both visceral power and a hazy, somnambulant vibe. Peter Frizzante\u2019s whooshing, distorted and intentionally wobbly guitar lines provide the woozy feel, while the band\u2019s rhythm section (bassist Lowell Hobbs and drummer Mike Fasano) lay down a rock-solid foundation. But it\u2019s the coquettish, breathy vocals of keyboardist Abby Amaya that truly set Day & Dream apart from the pack.<\/p>\n

All of the music on the band\u2019s 12-song album are credited to the group, so it\u2019s difficult to determine which member or members deserve credit for the lyrics. But the impressionistic demeanor of those words on songs like \u201cChrysalis\u201d fits perfectly with the music. Words like \u201csleep\u201d and \u201cdream\u201d pop up frequently, and the musical backing reinforces that kind of ambiance.<\/p>\n

That observation shouldn\u2019t lead newcomers to the group\u2019s music to assume that Day & Dream makes exclusively languid, laid-back music. \u201cFirst in Flight\u201d pummels forward relentlessly; it\u2019s just that it does so in an airy, shoegazey kind of way. And while there\u2019s a unity of character throughout the album \u2013 Amaya\u2019s vocals are the glue that holds the collection of songs together \u2013 the band changes up its approach from song to song. \u201cForest Fire\u201d slows the beat down to a crawl, giving plenty of space for Frizzante\u2019s chiming guitar lines to ring out and reverberate.<\/p>\n

And the group knows how to write a catchy song, too. \u201cStarry Night\u201d is as appealing a tune as one could imagine in the context of dream-pop. Halfway into the album, Day & Dream adds unexpected sonic color by having Frizzante double the chorus vocals an octave below Amaya\u2019s part; as the song unfolds, he sings a countermelodic line. It\u2019s almost \u2013 but not quite \u2013 a duet, and adds an unexpected dimension to the group’s overall sound.<\/p>\n

Brief linking tacks like the aptly-named \u201cSheepcounter\u201d display a side of the band it would do well to pursue further; as fetching as Amaya\u2019s vocals are, the group\u2019s instrumental mix is impressive on its own as well. \u201cYou\u201d gives the opportunity for the rhythm section to break out a bit; Fasano\u2019s complex drum pattern is hypnotic and smoldering, and Hobbs\u2019 understated bass part quietly asserts itself.<\/p>\n

And while there\u2019s a vaguely downbeat\/goth feel to some of the lyrics and song titles (cf. \u201cZero Sum Game\u201d and \u201cTake It to the Grave\u201d), Day & Dream reveals a brief flash of self-effacing humor with a song title like \u201cWe\u2019re Gonna Need Some More Coffee.\u201d With Every Breath You Die<\/i> is recommended to lovers of shimmering, gauzy pop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Though it kicks off with the brief \u201cAnd So It Begins,\u201d sporting a watery guitar figure that recalls Todd Rundgren\u2019s \u201cTiny Demons,\u201d Day & Dream\u2019s With Every Breath You Die […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16364,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,62,65,67],"tags":[237,3775],"class_list":["post-16363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-release","category-rawk","category-review","category-shoegaze","tag-asheville","tag-day-dream","cat-49-id","cat-62-id","cat-65-id","cat-67-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16363"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16365,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16363\/revisions\/16365"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}