You know him from the Afghan Whigs, The Twilight Singers and The Gutter Twins, his side project with Mark Lanegan. He’s a troubadour. He’s a raconteur. He’s a veteran of the 90s Alternative Music scene. He’s Greg Dulli, and his first solo album Random Desires is out now. (Royal Cream/BMG).
Dulli is best known from his 90’s alt rock band, Afghan Whigs, whose snarky and often self-deprecating lyrics were the norm for the band. On his first solo record, we get to hear a moody, soulful, charismatic Dull. No throw away tracks on this record, ALL 10 tracks are worth the listen!
The opening track, the fiery ‘Pantomima’, draws you into this record right away, with the lyrics ‘Desolation come and get it!’. The music video too has an interesting ode to choreographer Bob Fosse’s film, All That Jazz, as the dancers burst into a killer dance routine for the song, ‘Pantomima’.
Dulli’s vocals can be very Elvis Costello like. A bit rough and worn, with a little Craig Finn of the Hold Steady thrown in there. Dulli is the guy you want to have a beer with at the local bar, the guy who has been around the block, who has seen some things and he brings those views into his songs. I hear the slide guitar, violin, piano, swirling throughout many of the songs on this record, giving many of the tracks a cinematic feel. You can really hear that cinematic feel with a violin rolling through the song ‘It Falls Apart’. It’s just beautiful.
Piano opens the song on ‘The Tide’, where he sings, ‘I’ve got things to do, before I fade away’. As bleak as that lyric sounds, the song builds up and feels hopeful! ‘A Ghost’ is the standout acoustic melodic track, where he sings ‘I like what you getting out of me’, creating the soulful mood on this song…it’s perfect, compelling you to want to hear this song, as you imagine walking down a brick paved street in a small European town. My only complaint about this song is, it’s too short, clocking in at 2:42 minutes.
Whether you are an Afghan Whigs fan or not, Dulli will impress you on this record. It sounds better with every listen, especially on physical media, such as vinyl or CD. It’s available on Spotify, iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, and at your favorite record store. Be sure to visit Dulli’s official site: www.gregdulli.com
By Radio Ruta
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