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Love is music's neverending muse. To quote Dehd from their fourth album Poetry's opener "Dog Days," it's a "Headache, dog days, stolen glances sideway/ Heartache, mistakes, giving yourself completely." Produced by Ziyad Asrar of the band Whitney, and recorded in New Mexico, Chicago, and the Pacific Northwest, the Chicago trio build their minimalist, vocal-forward pop around the pendulum of that most powerful of emotional states. The understated voices of bassist Emily Kempf and guitarist Jason Balla take turns leading "Hard to Love" alongside minimalist backing from drummer Eric McGrady. Kempf has described the song as her "sonnet of always choosing drunk men, men that are hard to love, a little bit dangerous, always inappropriate, and traumatized in various ways." In the very next track, "Mood Ring," she swings back from deep tragedies to joyous fevers singing about her "tough and rumble man" who is "everything I need, my sexy little angel." Kempf and Balla's voices intertwine on "Alien," resulting in a delicate dance that could be a garbled mess but isn't. Paced by tambourine, "Pure Gold" is Dehd's stripped-down sound at its fullest. Acoustic and electric guitars detail the moment in time when, according to Balla, "you're absolutely convinced you found literally the one perfect person on this planet earth who can do or say no wrong." The tempo rises and the drums are turned up in "Don't Look Down" where the close-miked vocals assert, "I don't ever want to hear anymore that the heart wants what it wants" yet quickly give in when surrender is essential: "Give me all your heart, I'll give mine back/ Love's the reason I'm a mess/ I want it, I want it, I want it." Despite all the aspirations to love's fulfillingness, its dark, hurtful side appears in "Knife." Set to low tones and a menacing marching melody, Kempf turns vulnerable, bent on ruthlessly surviving—"I'm so sick of men telling me how to be/ I laughed and I smiled and I played it sweet/ But now I kill you in my sleep/ It's a matter of time and I'll be free/ You're outdated/ You mean nothing." Where there is love, there is life. And in Dehd's case, music. © Robert Baird/Qobuz
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Secretly Canadian Publishing, MusicPublisher - Dehd, MainArtist, MusicPublisher - Emily Kempf, Composer - Jason Balla, Composer, Producer - Eric McGrady, Composer - Ziyad Arif Asrar, Producer
(C) 2024 Fat Possum Records, LLC (P) 2024 Fat Possum Records
Secretly Canadian Publishing, MusicPublisher - Dehd, MainArtist, MusicPublisher - Emily Kempf, Composer - Jason Balla, Composer, Producer - Eric McGrady, Composer - Ziyad Arif Asrar, Producer
(C) 2024 Fat Possum Records, LLC (P) 2024 Fat Possum Records
Secretly Canadian Publishing, MusicPublisher - Dehd, MainArtist, MusicPublisher - Emily Kempf, Composer - Jason Balla, Composer, Producer - Eric McGrady, Composer - Ziyad Arif Asrar, Producer
(C) 2024 Fat Possum Records, LLC (P) 2024 Fat Possum Records
Secretly Canadian Publishing, MusicPublisher - Dehd, MainArtist, MusicPublisher - Emily Kempf, Composer - Jason Balla, Composer, Producer - Eric McGrady, Composer - Ziyad Arif Asrar, Producer
(C) 2024 Fat Possum Records, LLC (P) 2024 Fat Possum Records
Secretly Canadian Publishing, MusicPublisher - Dehd, MainArtist, MusicPublisher - Emily Kempf, Composer - Jason Balla, Composer, Producer - Eric McGrady, Composer - Ziyad Arif Asrar, Producer
(C) 2024 Fat Possum Records, LLC (P) 2024 Fat Possum Records
Secretly Canadian Publishing, MusicPublisher - Dehd, MainArtist, MusicPublisher - Emily Kempf, Composer - Jason Balla, Composer, Producer - Eric McGrady, Composer - Ziyad Arif Asrar, Producer
(C) 2024 Fat Possum Records, LLC (P) 2024 Fat Possum Records
Secretly Canadian Publishing, MusicPublisher - Dehd, MainArtist, MusicPublisher - Emily Kempf, Composer - Jason Balla, Composer, Producer - Eric McGrady, Composer - Ziyad Arif Asrar, Producer
(C) 2024 Fat Possum Records, LLC (P) 2024 Fat Possum Records
Secretly Canadian Publishing, MusicPublisher - Dehd, MainArtist, MusicPublisher - Emily Kempf, Composer - Jason Balla, Composer, Producer - Eric McGrady, Composer - Ziyad Arif Asrar, Producer
(C) 2024 Fat Possum Records, LLC (P) 2024 Fat Possum Records
Secretly Canadian Publishing, MusicPublisher - Dehd, MainArtist, MusicPublisher - Emily Kempf, Composer - Jason Balla, Composer, Producer - Eric McGrady, Composer - Ziyad Arif Asrar, Producer
(C) 2024 Fat Possum Records, LLC (P) 2024 Fat Possum Records
Secretly Canadian Publishing, MusicPublisher - Dehd, MainArtist, MusicPublisher - Emily Kempf, Composer - Jason Balla, Composer, Producer - Eric McGrady, Composer - Ziyad Arif Asrar, Producer
(C) 2024 Fat Possum Records, LLC (P) 2024 Fat Possum Records
Secretly Canadian Publishing, MusicPublisher - Dehd, MainArtist, MusicPublisher - Emily Kempf, Composer - Jason Balla, Composer, Producer - Eric McGrady, Composer - Ziyad Arif Asrar, Producer
(C) 2024 Fat Possum Records, LLC (P) 2024 Fat Possum Records
Secretly Canadian Publishing, MusicPublisher - Dehd, MainArtist, MusicPublisher - Emily Kempf, Composer - Jason Balla, Composer, Producer - Eric McGrady, Composer - Ziyad Arif Asrar, Producer
(C) 2024 Fat Possum Records, LLC (P) 2024 Fat Possum Records
Secretly Canadian Publishing, MusicPublisher - Dehd, MainArtist, MusicPublisher - Emily Kempf, Composer - Jason Balla, Composer, Producer - Eric McGrady, Composer - Ziyad Arif Asrar, Producer
(C) 2024 Fat Possum Records, LLC (P) 2024 Fat Possum Records
Secretly Canadian Publishing, MusicPublisher - Dehd, MainArtist, MusicPublisher - Emily Kempf, Composer - Jason Balla, Composer, Producer - Eric McGrady, Composer - Ziyad Arif Asrar, Producer
(C) 2024 Fat Possum Records, LLC (P) 2024 Fat Possum Records
Album review
Love is music's neverending muse. To quote Dehd from their fourth album Poetry's opener "Dog Days," it's a "Headache, dog days, stolen glances sideway/ Heartache, mistakes, giving yourself completely." Produced by Ziyad Asrar of the band Whitney, and recorded in New Mexico, Chicago, and the Pacific Northwest, the Chicago trio build their minimalist, vocal-forward pop around the pendulum of that most powerful of emotional states. The understated voices of bassist Emily Kempf and guitarist Jason Balla take turns leading "Hard to Love" alongside minimalist backing from drummer Eric McGrady. Kempf has described the song as her "sonnet of always choosing drunk men, men that are hard to love, a little bit dangerous, always inappropriate, and traumatized in various ways." In the very next track, "Mood Ring," she swings back from deep tragedies to joyous fevers singing about her "tough and rumble man" who is "everything I need, my sexy little angel." Kempf and Balla's voices intertwine on "Alien," resulting in a delicate dance that could be a garbled mess but isn't. Paced by tambourine, "Pure Gold" is Dehd's stripped-down sound at its fullest. Acoustic and electric guitars detail the moment in time when, according to Balla, "you're absolutely convinced you found literally the one perfect person on this planet earth who can do or say no wrong." The tempo rises and the drums are turned up in "Don't Look Down" where the close-miked vocals assert, "I don't ever want to hear anymore that the heart wants what it wants" yet quickly give in when surrender is essential: "Give me all your heart, I'll give mine back/ Love's the reason I'm a mess/ I want it, I want it, I want it." Despite all the aspirations to love's fulfillingness, its dark, hurtful side appears in "Knife." Set to low tones and a menacing marching melody, Kempf turns vulnerable, bent on ruthlessly surviving—"I'm so sick of men telling me how to be/ I laughed and I smiled and I played it sweet/ But now I kill you in my sleep/ It's a matter of time and I'll be free/ You're outdated/ You mean nothing." Where there is love, there is life. And in Dehd's case, music. © Robert Baird/Qobuz
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 14 track(s)
- Total length: 00:40:56
- Main artists: Dehd
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Fat Possum
- Genre: Pop/Rock Rock Alternative & Indie
(C) 2024 Fat Possum Records, LLC (P) 2024 Fat Possum Records
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