December 2011
From a quiet cave in “PRIMITIVE TIMES”, Dylan Connor emerges with a new collection of humble, uplifting songs.
Dylan Connor’s forthcoming album Primitive Times invites us into a spacious sonic world, guided by a compassion-filled voice and songwriting, and the occasional interlude – a psychedelic mash-up of academic lectures and his daughter’s baby toys.
Dylan Connor is a singer, songwriter, Latin teacher, devoted husband and father. His family of origin, some members of which are very famous, are highly creative and actively supportive of the arts. It is inevitable that they have influenced, encouraged and inspired Connor deeply, leading him on many adventures in Hollywood and elsewhere.
Being part of such a vivid clan has also given Connor the chance to more strongly define his own, singular voice - one which is extremely direct and open, often simultaneously soaring to surreal heights. And Connor’s songwriting - with an abundance of hook-laden melodies and unexpected harmonic twists - sinks into, enriches and stays with the listener.
From a gentle tribute to his friend and fellow musician’s lost battle with cancer (“Eric Spread Out”), to his unfaltering support for revolutionaries in his wife’s homeland of Syria (“Tattoo on Your Bones” and new, bonus track “Feza Feza”) to “High Anymore” (an open and empathetic song about addiction) - and then the unabashedly romantic “Lynchburg Lemonade” (with its nod to Elvis and Springsteen) – each song on Primitive Times reflects a maturing in Connor’s life – an attuned sensitivity and empathy towards others, partially gained through his own recent personal struggles and breakthroughs.
Primitive Times is grounded by a warm, homespun recording aesthetic, nurtured by co-producer and guitarist in Connor’s steady band, The Epic Poets, Merritt Jacob (Trout Recording). At a time when the music industry and music-making itself are in flux, Connor chose to simplify his process, recording almost all of the instruments himself entirely on Apple’s audio software, Garageband. He later brought band-mate, Jacob, into the process to play some additional guitar and mix the tracks. With minimal overdubs or effects, and playing with the limitations of working this way, the album has an immediacy and freshness, staying close to Connor’s live vocal sound and the spirit of the songs as they were first created.
Primitive Times is a work of playful, insightful and intuitive human experience, rocking steady with empathy and humility: a welcome, musical balm for these times in which we live.
Let me dream while I’m singing this song. (Ego somniem dum hoc carmen canto)
- Dylan Connor (“Lynchburg Lemonade”)
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