dambrots Love, Delusion, And Other Things... CD

the dambrots "love, delusion and other things...," (the orange album)With "love, delusion and other things...", the dambrots prove that they have as honest a take on subjects of the head and heart as any band out right now. There's a real truthfulness to their treatment of the title subjects, as each song touches on the complexity of relationships and the bittersweet aspects of life, love and memory. Musically and lyrically they're hopeful even when they're down, and wistful and melancholy even when they're upbeat.Their third album is the acoustic duo's warmest effort to date - "song" is positively uplifting - as well as their most complex. Incorporating a diversity of musical moods, textures and instrumentation, the album features dawn marie on drums and an assortment of percussion instruments, and al james plays acoustic guitars, bass, piano, even mandolin and ukulele. The piano on "and I dreamed I saw it on route 46" is lovely, and dawn marie's voice has never sounded better. "love, delusion and other things..." finds the dambrots expanding musically while retaining their signature wistful, haunting sound. The album moves from the choppy and angular country folk of "the stairs" to the indie folk sound of "soup moment" and "this time tomorrow." Slower, dreamier songs like "a while" and "a bag of emptiness" are woven throughout the record. The last song, "walk down any avenue" is an old-timey duet whose sincere, playful romanticism is reminiscent of Mo Tucker's turn on "After Hours" from The Velvet Underground. It serves as a perfect coda for an album that captures the power and the beauty of love, while recognizing its inherent fleetingness and the sadness that accompanies its loss.