Heartbreaking Bravery

Winston Hightower, Caged Animals, Shell of A Shell, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, and Street Sects all unveiled notable songs to round out last week’s offerings with a healthy amount of both style and substance. While each of those tracks is well worth exploring, this post’s focus falls to another surprise release from A Year’s Worth of Memories contributor Eric Slick, the multi-talented musician that sits behind the kit for Dr. Dog and leads the scintillating, punk-fueled basement pop attack of Lithuania.

Following the lovely, mellotron-heavy “No”, Slick offers up what feels like a natural successor for his solo project in the aptly-titled “The Dirge”. Slick’s recently emerged as a lyricist of formidable talent, pairing his already enviable chops in pure composition with an intuitive understanding of what makes a narrative effective. All of those elements of Slick’s approach are firing on all cylinders for the gorgeously layered and commendably nuanced “The Dirge”, which blends artful production with a mournful tone to a gentle, uneasy perfection.

It’s a beautiful four and a half minutes that makes its mark and leaves the kind of impression that quietly resonates long after its finish. In taking cues from classic pop records and sharpening them into something decidedly more modern, the end results still wind up feeling oddly timeless. “The Dirge” is another incredibly tantalizing look at what Slick’s aiming to achieve with his solo outings and considerably elevates the anticipation for the project’s next move. If Slick can keep pace with the standard set by “The Dirge” and “No”, we’re all in for some astonishing music down the line.

Listen to “The Dirge” below and keep an eye on this site for more updates on the project.