SPOTIFY REVIEW: Dresses "Sun Shy"

            For the past year, I’ve found myself sleeping more than normal.  I can sleep for something like eight hours a night, but then also take a two to four hour nap during the day.   My doctor has several theories about this, one being my R.E.M. sleep which will be saved for the next time Mike Stipe and company release an album, and one involves the sun.

            According to my doctor, and other credible sources, the sun is a good provider of vitamin d and thus if I go outside and get some sun I will become more healthy, more productive and possibly not feel the need to sleep as much.  

            It’s odd because I can drink an infinite amount of coffee and still nap.  I can drink a giant Red Bull after midnight and still go straight to sleep.   Why?  I’ve wondered whether I have CFS or not, but I don’t want to get into that assumption yet if I don’t have to do so.

           

            Fittingly, the debut album from the duo Dresses is called “Sun Shy” and though I don’t like to go outside I also recognize that no amount of sunshine or vitamin d will help me to stay awake either.   Yes, it may just be more personal to me than anyone else (Unless you’re in my same boat), but I do enjoy this album just based on the title, and there is a title track for it, so I do like the entire concept of being sun shy.

            The music itself just hooks me from the first songs and keeps my attention the whole way through.  If I was in the business of making Top 10 lists, this would be in my Top 5 from this year.  It’s Kimbra, but it’s not.   It has hints of different things and mainly just becomes this pop rock almost dance quality and it’s just a lot of fun.

            The lyrics on this are also quite good, which means a lot in this day and age.  One of my favorite lines is: “If all of my friend are dead and I don’t give a shit does that make me fucked up?”.   The answer of course is no because we all need to move on.   Death is just a part of life.

            While this primarily has female vocals, there are some male vocals (like on the titular track) but unlike other recent albums I can remember I do not mind the male vocals on here that much.  It’s nice because it’s not like Rainer Maria and it’s not as if the male vocals are just backing vocals, but the way the two trade off is so seamless it’s just brilliant.