When I got a press release a few weeks back about the upcoming Dr. Dog album, it said that the band was going to continue its evolution by stripping down the instruments and focusing on deeper, darker lyrics. After hearing the lead single off April’s Shame, Shame, I can absolutely detect a difference from 2008’s Fate. And I like it.
“Shadow People” starts off with just a barren, acoustic strum and a raspy voice. Almost imperceptibly, the song builds with a drumbeat and stirring, choral “ahhhhs.” A little over halfway through, a bluesy piano and a tambourine joins the mix, and if I didn’t concentrate on the lyrics hard enough, I’d be willing to believe this is a song of happiness and contentment. However, Scott McMicken (vocalist/guitarist) explains that “Shadow People” was written out of exhaustion from living in his Philly neighborhood, a weariness of trying to be too much to too many people. Knowing that, the juxtaposition of this four-minute rollicking crescendo and such inherent solemnity becomes quite profound.
Dr. Dog – Shadow People
Dr. Dog – Shadow People
Shame, Shame is out on April 6, 2010 on ANTI Records.