Dorian – Elvis/Sylvia
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| Dorian - Elvis/Sylvia |
Release Date: Out Now
The sparse information that
accompanies this understated release opens with the kind of show stopping line
that we’ve come to expect from Dorian Cox; “A decade after the pop charts front
cover features with the Long Blondes put him in intensive care, Dorian has put
time into writing his first solo LP”. The highs, the glamour, the critical
acclaim, the loss and the rehabilitation following serious illness – it’s all great
material for song writing so let’s dive in and see what Dorian has been up to.
‘Elvis’ opens with a tinny beat
and a synth melody that, altogether is akin to Trio’s ‘Da Da Da’ before the
song settles in to the lowest of lo-fi melodic structures and Dorian’s heavily
delay laden vocal that feels like an unsure Mark E Smith. The background hum of
the recording and simple set up gives this an incredibly rudimental feel but
don’t underestimate the power of this tune and acerbic nature of the piece. The
B-side, ‘Sylvia’, uses a preset on the drum machine but this time it’s
accompanied by a distorted bass line and the dead-eyed vocal delivery of Dorian’s
significant other, punk poet Elise Hadgraft. “Ip Dip Dog Shit, You Are Not It
Anymore….” Sings Hadgraft in a playground call that could only be delivered by
a woman for it to be effective as a put down and on top of this raw
instrumentation it’s even more withering and effective. What we have here is
the genesis of something that is potentially very exciting both musically and
in terms of a cultural movement – these two could be the art-rock power duo we’ve
all been waiting for.
More information: https://twitter.com/_doriancox