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Dreams
Dreams in Bloomington, MN
Current price: $14.99
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Size: CD
Since their return to recording in 2018,
Duster
have been steadily releasing music that is on par with their early career highlights, and sometimes even more satisfying. 2022's
Together
pushed the duo's eerie slowcore sound into the warm embrace of shoegaze, adding an extra layer of guitars to their usual lo-fi space rock and investing the songs with even more churning sadness than usual. Not content to repeat themselves on
In Dreams
,
Clay Parton
and
Canaan Dove Amber
add to the already rich template they created on
. More layers of hazy guitars, extra noise piped in around the edges of the arrangements, vintage keyboard intrusions, dollops of reverb and echo; they all combine to make this the lushest
album to date. The comforting drift of the music balances the lonesome croon of the vocals, and the occasional swathes of noise that disrupt the calm give the record dramatic tension. It's a trick they've done in the past, but never with the amount of precision they exhibit here. Perfectly crafted arrangements only get the song halfway there, though, the rest is up to the songs and performances. The duo deliver first-rate work on both fronts. The songs pulse with desolation and malaise basted in torpor and gloom, but never painfully so. There's always a hook of some kind to keep the listener's head above water; a twisted guitar arpeggio, a keening vocal, a blast of radio static, sometimes a melody peeking its bashful way through the mist, or just a minute or two of the space between the notes. It's been a winning formula for them and the band never stray far from it. Some could uncharitably see that as a flaw, another view would be that the joy of continuing to listen to
comes from the small refinements and adjustments they make from record to record. One could be thrilled by songs like "Close to Home," where the vocal slices through the murky mix like a clarion call or "Poltergeist," which sounds like an even-more faded X-ray of a song than usual; impressed by the abject beauty of intertwining guitars and keys on "Isn't Over," which is possibly the prettiest song they've ever recorded. Listeners are set adrift by the weightless guitar gaze of "Aqua Tofana" or spooked by the warped indie rock ramble "Like a Movie." It's not music for people who like to be whomped over the head with obviousness or simplicity; it's music that's made to be absorbed through the skin like medicine. Meant to heal and to comfort,
's records have become balm for troubled souls living in turbulent times and
is exactly that, and very much of a piece with the band's finest work. ~ Tim Sendra
Duster
have been steadily releasing music that is on par with their early career highlights, and sometimes even more satisfying. 2022's
Together
pushed the duo's eerie slowcore sound into the warm embrace of shoegaze, adding an extra layer of guitars to their usual lo-fi space rock and investing the songs with even more churning sadness than usual. Not content to repeat themselves on
In Dreams
,
Clay Parton
and
Canaan Dove Amber
add to the already rich template they created on
. More layers of hazy guitars, extra noise piped in around the edges of the arrangements, vintage keyboard intrusions, dollops of reverb and echo; they all combine to make this the lushest
album to date. The comforting drift of the music balances the lonesome croon of the vocals, and the occasional swathes of noise that disrupt the calm give the record dramatic tension. It's a trick they've done in the past, but never with the amount of precision they exhibit here. Perfectly crafted arrangements only get the song halfway there, though, the rest is up to the songs and performances. The duo deliver first-rate work on both fronts. The songs pulse with desolation and malaise basted in torpor and gloom, but never painfully so. There's always a hook of some kind to keep the listener's head above water; a twisted guitar arpeggio, a keening vocal, a blast of radio static, sometimes a melody peeking its bashful way through the mist, or just a minute or two of the space between the notes. It's been a winning formula for them and the band never stray far from it. Some could uncharitably see that as a flaw, another view would be that the joy of continuing to listen to
comes from the small refinements and adjustments they make from record to record. One could be thrilled by songs like "Close to Home," where the vocal slices through the murky mix like a clarion call or "Poltergeist," which sounds like an even-more faded X-ray of a song than usual; impressed by the abject beauty of intertwining guitars and keys on "Isn't Over," which is possibly the prettiest song they've ever recorded. Listeners are set adrift by the weightless guitar gaze of "Aqua Tofana" or spooked by the warped indie rock ramble "Like a Movie." It's not music for people who like to be whomped over the head with obviousness or simplicity; it's music that's made to be absorbed through the skin like medicine. Meant to heal and to comfort,
's records have become balm for troubled souls living in turbulent times and
is exactly that, and very much of a piece with the band's finest work. ~ Tim Sendra
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