Dirty Beaches is one of my favorite musicians at the moment.
I don’t think Alex will need my approval of positivity and Asian solidarity but I am going to give it to him anyways. 😛
Dirty Beaches has been on a wild ride since the critical acclaim and success from Badlands which came out in 2011.
Now he will do something ambitious which the double album “Drifters/Love Is The Devil” which drops on May 21st through Zoo Music.
Total of 16 tracks. Drifters with 8 tracks and Love Is The Devil with 8 tracks.
Drifters/Love Is The Devil is a reflection on the fragility of reality.
In my opinion Drifters and Love Is The Devil is a unique concept album.
Still very experimental but not of that greaser lo-fi rock sound that people were accustomed in the Badlands era.
Alex even stated on his blog from March 12, 2013 (Here is a snippet):
I feel blessed and am very proud to present more work this year that showcases the other side of Dirty Beaches.
After Badlands, I’ve retired the idea of flirting with the concept of samples and have returned to my old territory of synth, basic electric guitars, drum machines, along with experimentation in newer territories like electronic drum pads, and casio digital guitars, which you will hear on the new double LP “Drifters/Love is the devil, coming out later this year in May via Zoo Music.
Can’t wait to get it out and share it with the world.
I’m also working on more compositions at the moment and hopefully will be able to find a home for these instrumental compositions that I really love writing.
Good bye true blue, good bye lord knows best, good bye sweet 17, and good bye pompadour.
Drifters is more like a city nightlife in a dark twisted club/bar area.
Very different in sound when he goes lo-fi electro-rock.
Very vocal driven lo-fi style.
Not really dancey but very hypnotic trance mood.
Mirage Hall is the track that stood out the most with it’s 8 minute retro-80s lo-fi new wave punk-rock.
Love Is The Devil is a complete opposite.
Think of it as the hangover part, coming out of the club/bar.
Walking in slow motion while the sun is coming out and trying to forget what you did wrong.
Ambient, beautiful and atmospheric.
More instrumental except for the track “Like the Ocean We Part”.
As I called it the “Hangover album”.
People might interpret it as a break-up album since it has a sombre sad feel to it.
I think it should be a soundtrack to a Wong Kar-Wai album.
It’s hard to say which one I like the most.
Both albums are typically different in style and tone.
While most will find Drifters to be difficult to listen to.
It’s what makes Dirty Beaches so interesting.
Ambitious album to say the least.
Best tracks on Drifters:
- Night Walk
- I Dream In Neon
- Casino Lisboa
- Aurevoir Mon Visage
- Mirage Hall
- Landscapes In The Mist
Best tracks on Love Is The Devil
- Greyhound at Night
- This Is Not My City
- Woman
- Love Is The Devil
- Like The Ocean We Part
- Berlin
I’d give Drifters 9/10 and Love Is The Devil 10/10.
So in total I give both albums 10/10.
