Hi folks, this little gem cannot escape your ears! This beautiful electronica sprinkled with light beats and released under the name Sorrow is in my most played playlist since the day I discovered it. Sorrow is a Bristol-based and Birmingham-born producer of UK garage, grime, dubstep and ambient tunes and Dreamstone is the debut album released trough the esteemed London label Monotreme Records in June 2013.
The album arrives after a series of self-released tracks, remixes and EPs over the last two years, as well as collaborations with other artists that include, among others, Stumbleine, Asa and Submerse. Sorrow’s sound is tagged with several music genres and, in addition, we can position his style at the intersection between electronic shoegaze and post-club garage. The first time I listened to this album my thought went directly to Burial and Desolate that play more or less in the same kind of music form. But, despite the initial impression and after entirely listening to Dreamstones, I found more differences than similarities between them. The melancholy of Sorrow is warm and all the songs in general have a pretty melody that expands the boundaries of ambient dubstep.
Dreamstone’ s 11 tracks range from blissful dreaminess to moody darkness. There’s always an alternation between light and dark sounds in each song and throughout the whole album creating a pretty nice dynamism. Dreamstone is not an album for the dance floor but I imagine this music as the soundtrack to a car driving through the city after dark whilst the rain pounds down and neon lights flicker outside.
The car tour starts with ‘Elixir’ that with its percussions can be related to the famous Aphex Twin’s beats. It’s a mood enhancing masterpieces that will appeal to fans of ambient dubstep music.
The third song, 'Dreamstone', as the album title, features guest vocals from CoMa and is a soft series of percussive shakes and atmospheric synth. I really liked the video of this track, filmed by Oliver Lønstrup Thorsen, that shows a young woman walking in a forest surrounded by a mellow and soft sun light.
Powerful bass grooves and subdued beats dominate the scene of ‘Embrace’ until Sorrow surprises us with a lovely violin interlude demonstrating his ability to use so different instruments to create a unique music style.
The following tracks,‘Supernova’ and ‘Flowerchild’, seem like one song and together they merge perfectly shoegaze and dubstep. Their sound is engulfing.
The mix of melody and beats come back with ‘Shadowed Doubt’. Melancholy, somber strings, violin and ghostly vocals are all here to create a song that resumes the major elements of the album.
‘Gallows Hill’ has the same set of essential elements till fading into the closing song ‘Intruder’ where, with the shortest track of the album, the British artist surprises the listeners with an incredibly powerful bass. This song is unique in its style, dynamic, assertive, sometimes aggressive, and represents a step ahead in the Sorrow’s sound and a proof of his virtuosity.
Dreamstone is an album that has everything in it and works perfectly for a late night sonic experience or a laid-back Sunday morning. It’s a strong debut from an incredibly talented producer.
