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Dave Scanlon - "Pink in Each, Bright Blue, Bright Green" | Album Review

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by Hayden Godfrey (@byHayden)

It would be intriguing, though probably somewhat unsettling, to know what goes on in the mind of Dave Scanlon, a well-travelled experimental composer and musician perhaps best known for his work with JOBS. His newest effort, the serenely brandished Pink in each, bright blue, bright green, steps away from the instrumentally cluttered music of his band and ventures to a more minimalistic, spacey side of production.

It’s a style that can be loosely described as experimental folk, though you’d be forgiven for classifying it as avant-garde or even baroque. Regardless of specific categorization, the record is a spiritually profound, slightly freaky anthology that flows with efficiency and candor.

With slow, meaningful changes, Scanlon showcases his bright yet haunting delivery through open and illuminated choruses (“She is the Girl Behind Your Money”), aligned melodies in short spurts (“Animal Knew Love”), and droning, slightly monotonous vocal passages (“Indoors“). Most of the record is, in simple terms, slightly off-kilter, with “Heirloom Cloth” and “Common Law” illustrating this wonderfully.

Elsewhere, Scanlon strays to pastoral soundscapes (“Water’s No Crop,” “Luxury”) and brings in softly pulsing ambient pads (“Everybody Know,” “We’ll Ride in Your Car”) to almost lull listeners into a relaxing sense of security. All of this, of course, is made more impactful by the aforementioned offbeat progressions that follow soon after.

Still, Scanlon hardly sits still, bumbling along through crowded stanzas on “Cable to the Sky” and crafting a commanding vocal mix on “Beast and King”. Despite the individuality of each track (or, in some cases, pair of tracks), there’s a common, abstractly intangible thread that links his every word together. It may not be evident upon first listen, but Scanlon seems to appeal to a spiritual and visceral sense of self that becomes more apparent as the record goes on.

Overall, Scanlon has managed to create off-center folk tunes that are as uneasy as they are dreamy. It may not be a tone that sits well with everybody, but feels almost euphoric if it happens to gel well with a listener’s existing palette. Pink in each, bright blue, bright green is an imperfect yet extremely polished effort that fits comfortably into indie folk and avant-garde spaces. It’s smooth, profound, and well-composed.