We love Dennis Callaci at Impose. His 25+ years of dazzling us with his writing skills and performances with his band Refrigerator. Besides his impressive resume with the band, he’s also released a number of tracks, tapes and LP only releases under several monikers. (Poorly chosen, admittedly.) So, of course, we were over the moon excited to hear that he’d been in the studio making even more incredible art for us to feast our ears on. This time, it’s a little more personal as he comes at us with his first true solo album under his own name. (Because why fix something that’s not broken?) The entire album features Simon Joyner and his current band, as well as overdubs provided by Mike Friedman and Joyner. A Bed of Light comes out September 9th, but we’ve got the inside scoop. Which means we’ve got your exclusive streaming premiere of the album in full. Right now.
Lyrically, the album was comprised of events over the past year of Dennis’ life, heavily recalling loss. The album starts off with a song titled “Theresa Russell”. Seems as though it may have been inspired by a woman by that name, but who are we to infer title meanings? Strings fill the sound space gorgeously, before leading into a more indie track complete with tambourine, piano, and percussion. Slow tempo track “Birthday Poems” brings a melancholy feel, elaborating a numbing feeling with lyrics like “the doctors, they gave you two days.” The third track – “S.O.S.” – starts out like the solo guitar acoustic version of Story of The Year’s “Until The Day I Die“, but quickly unfolds into a twangy folk song.
“Keychain Trophy” is another slower track with some twang to it, while “Unlanding” hits heavier from the beginning with dark guitar chords and quirky, unmatched (in a fun way) vocals. “Arc Of A Diver” is composed like an epic movie score, with lyrics that feel more improvised and steady than anything else, as he rambles about a “Ramada Inn” and “undress[ing] the bed.” His complaint about tucking the sheets in too tightly makes us giggle, and we are unprepared for the fresh, light instrumentals that come with “Faultline”. The vocals sound like they are coming in over a fuzzy walkie talkie, nothing like the clear, crisp vocals in “Houdini”. “In Wait” rounds out the piece as a slow folk song should. Whether he’s channeling his inner Neil Young or not is a question for the ages, but the experimental sounds he plugs – seemingly randomly – into the track certainly keep you on your toes.
His voice is quirky, pitchy at times, changing to mold with the vibe of each track and bringing us back to the amazing truth that Dennis Callaci is a true artist and his music will always keep us guessing.
A Bed of Light, is out September 9th on Shrimper Records. It is available for preorder now.
