Written By Akshath Verma
Oftentimes we find music at points in our life that becomes the perfect soundtrack relative to that period. I think one of those artists for me this year was Dutch Interior.
The band’s name is inspired by a series of surreal paintings by Joan Mirò, titled Dutch Interior. The group consists of 6 members, all of whom have been friends since childhood, which is indicative in how all the instruments connect and communicate with each other on this project. Though they have all been friends, they’re also “…really fucking serious about the art that [they’re] making,” said Jack Nugent (guitar, vocals). The band has a variety of country influences that appear on the album Moneyball, paired with motifs of holiness and the divine coursing through the verses and choruses of their album, and a lap steel that is revelatory of feelings that are recognizable to all.
The opening track to Moneyball, Canada, slowly brings us into the new album, letting the rich guitars and gentle drums wash over you as you listen. The lyrics paint a surreal scene, one with a body of water, with “sparrows flirting by the lake,” noticeably different from their previous two albums. This new sound hones in the melancholic motifs and sounds from previous projects while confining itself to a limited rotation of instruments as well. The band has admitted in interviews that Canada is their favorite song to perform, and it’s no wonder as the track slowly intensifies with lashing guitars, and melodic synth lines.
The next song that stuck out to me most was track 3, Wood Knot. This song is imbued with what Dutch Interior means to me. Many of their songs are reminiscing about home and longing for the future. But not longing with anticipation for what’s next, rather with feelings of nostalgia that can be found in photographs or old camcorder videos. The intro section with guitars develops the soft melancholic sound that is signature to them, accompanied by a longing lap steel. The instruments develop this wave in the intro and the opening lines, “stock photographs of candid laughs,” let it wash over you. This song almost feels like an affirmation to oneself that they belong somewhere. Lines like “Plant my ass deeper than a root”, followed by “ ‘cause I’m a wood knot, I’m not a leaf,” furthers their longing for home and belonging.
Track 5, Sweet Time, is one of the first upbeat moments in the album thus far. It reflects on the idiocy that comes with being youthful, and due to the fast passage of time, our own wisdom will always seem to escape us. My favorite lines come from this song, “I just don’t know |
Where the wind comes from | Or why it blows so cold | I got no coat | You see.” It paints a picture of unpreparedness, one that comes with growing up and having to assume more responsibilities.
Fourth Street, the album’s 7th track, is a change from the tone of the rest of the album. It has fuzzier guitar tones, accompanied by a riff that sounds like it’s wailing in comparison to the rest of the album. Up until now the album discusses belonging, the search for home, and other such melancholic ideas, but this song looks to the past. It features vivid story-telling, rather than the abstract ideas that course through the beginning of this project. It describes a protagonist going back to the “motherland”, an analogy for their parents home, and seeing them for the first time in a while. In the beginning of the song their parents tell them a few wise lines, to which they realize that the apple may have not fallen far from the tree. This song is the most revelatory when it comes to the theme of growing up. Many people in their young 20s start to relate to their parents for the first time, relating to them in an emotional depth that you simply can’t grasp in your youth. This song is about the weight of burden, the expectation of success, and the self-destruction that takes place during this process. Our protagonist is asked, “Son, do you know what it’s like to wake up in the morning, and it doesn’t feel right,” by his father, which he reflects on later in the song. This reflection happens when they describe “giving most nights to Chinatown”, or how their “throat is burning” from smoking.
The next track that stood out to me brings us back down a little bit, and brings us hope. Horse returns to wishful thinking and reminds us how the cyclical nature of suffering includes contentment in the cycle. The opening lyrics are “We have talked of buying a horse And of course, it’s more than we can afford But our dreams don’t keep us from dreamin.’” It describes a scene of a family that deals with challenges head on, and though times are tough they will still be able to “buy the horse” through supporting each other. My favorite lines from this song is “Then I can promise you this much | That one day I’ll bring home stacks | But all the credit cards might be maxed,” and “Yeah, we’re shit broke | but we don’t break | Until we say we’re broken.” It’s like describing a dire situation, and following it up with a wink.
Dutch Interior is a band that I am really excited to keep following, and to see where their sound goes. They are at the forefront of indie folk song-writing, and encapsulate all the sounds of our current indie scene from the hopping synths to the gliding lap steel.