‘The Isolation Tapes’ sees Dry Stick at its most vulnerable, sharing heartfelt stories in the form of folk pop songs that come together on his second album.
His soft and sultry voice takes us on a musical journey supporting feelings of love, loss and heartache. He opens wholeheartedly with ‘How About Love’ which is a hazy love ballad driven by subtle guitar lines and a catchy rhythm. The album on which Dry Stick introduces himself is the result of several trips to a deserted Swedish farmhouse during the pandemic. It is an attempt to avoid going insane during this crazy dark period in time, on ‘The Isolation Tapes’ we hear passion, grief, and a whole lot of love for music.
On ‘Cranes’ we hear some darker riffs, while ‘Easy’ takes it back to a more emotive sound, something that bit more subdued. All eleven tracks on the almost entire live recorded album lean on a sound characterised by the farmhouse it was recorded in. “Its lyrics cover a wide range of everyday struggles such as climate concerns, love, decay, the joys of nature and lack of money.” We hear a hint of a soulful gospel sound on ‘Sliding’, and ‘Keep Coming Back’ plays with a more punching hint at rock, potentially one of our favourites on the album.
We hear some wandering hazy harmonies on ‘The Change’ and ‘She Moves’ and a punching rhythm on the album’s closer ‘Let It Burn’. Dry Stick doesn’t shy away from playing upon multiple influences, yet has created a coherent sound that is truly the red thread throughout ‘The Isolation Tapes’. The album is soft and soulful yet powerful and uplifting and a great outcome of what was a time we’d rather forget.
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