Heartbreaking Bravery

Editor’s Note: There’s been a month-long gap in coverage, thanks to near-incessant travel and other extenuating circumstances. The following run of posts that contain this note will be posts that should have appeared sometime within the past several weeks. Use these posts as an opportunity to catch up to the present release cycle or to simply discover some new music. Either way, enjoy.

Now a handful of releases into their career, Dogheart continue to steadily improve and Real Mood is the current culmination of that improvement. Restrained basement pop that packs a serious amount of punch exists squarely in this site’s pleasure center and Dogheart have been releasing gems for that particular niche genre for the past three years. While a lot of those recordings have been impressive, the band’s staked out a strong footing for Real Mood that feels just a little bit stronger.

Everything Dog Heart tries out over the course of these six tracks works, usually they’re subtle flourishes that wind up unifying Real Mood. The EP also works, and was clearly conceived, as a whole. While individual songs could be stripped out for mixtapes and retain their power, packaged together they each become more powerful. What’s most surprising about the EP is how understated and grounded its songs wind up being, adding a layer of intrigue that readily invites returns.

Real Mood is a strong collection of songs that stealthily gain impact, creating the kind of pull that’s hard to ignore. It’s an impressive feat and it transforms Real Mood from what could have easily been a relatively minor release into something that registers as important. Don’t miss out on the party.

Listen to Real Mood below and pick it up from the band here.