When Dawn Golden's "All That I Want" came out a couple months ago, we were surprised to hear such a refined sound coming from such a new name. If you were to do some digging, though, you'd have found that Dawn Golden (Dexter Tortiello) is the front man for the already successful Chicago band, Houses, and that his production work has been well received for some time now. The half-speed melodies and methodical pacing take some time to acclimate to, but if you allow yourself the time to adapt to Dexter's more relaxed tempo, the little details he laces into each song will simply amaze you. Like "All That I Want", tracks like "Discoloration", "I Won't Bend", and "Brief Encounter" all cultivate an impression of sincerity that's so rare in other offerings, and when you don't have to worry about keeping up with an overly rushed cadence, you'll be able to truly relax and soak everything in. Unlike other more experimental side projects, Still Life isn't one that's self-indulgent or gratuitously divergent from his band's work; we still get to enjoy a lot of those same soft-edged rhythms and textures that made Houses such a blog darling and fan favorite. What Dexter has done, however, is craft a sound that feels a bit more grand. Like some expansive cinematic shot played in slow motion, he impresses upon the listener a sense of scope that's unparallelled; and the fact that he's able to do that without the aid of kitschy builds and drops speaks to his skill as an artist, as well as his vision as a producer. If you were at all a fan of Dawn Golden's remixes and singles leading up to the album release, then this project will be right up your alley, but even if you were on the fence before Still Life came out, then this will be the perfect nudge to get you over the edge. This is one of the strongest albums we've seen in a while, and the quality will be tough to match, no doubt. You can stream our favourites from Still Life below, all of it over at the Hype Machine right now, and pre-order the project on iTunes.
Dawn Golden