FEATURED ARTIST
Dylan Sherry - Ur Love
Van Nuys, CA, United States
BACKGROUND
Dylan Sherry from Van Nuys, CA, United States is an artist who is 100% self recorded and funded. His main influences are indie, classic country, and oldies--traces all of which can be found throughout his latest EP entitled 'Ur Love'. This EP consists of four tracks - 'What U Need', 'Ride Away', 'Want Ur Love' and, 'How To Stay Lonely'. We were sent this EP to review so let's get into it then!
REVIEW
Dylan Sherry introduces 'Ur Love' with with 'What U Need', a jolly lo-fi track that opens with rhythmic acoustic guitar strums that fill the room with reverb. The vocals are also packed with reverb and as the drums and the guitar layers are brought into the production they keep to the reverbed sound. 'What U Need' is mainly acoustic production with a surfer vibe to it. I can envision it being very successful on the beach front. An even more stripped back version of this on a beachfront would go down really well! Coming into the second track which already marks the midpoint of this project, we're given 'Ride Away'. This is a song that keeps to the same reverb packed vocal sound but brings a heavier bassline to the project in its opening bars. I like how chill these songs are. Parts of the track bring in guitar strums that gave me Hula dancer images. I like the inclusion of this influence in the project. Track 3 entitled 'Want Ur Love' comes with with a similar feel to the previous two tracks. There isn't really very much variation in the sounds of these tracks. I wouldn't be able to distinguish one from the other unless I was a hardcore fan. Not to take away from the talent of the artist! I would just like to hear more variation in the production in terms of the chords progressions, the vocal keys and the effects used on the instruments. Bring something different to these three things no matter how small and I'm certain these three songs will be more distinguishable. The feel of the music is great, the mixing is great but some variation would also be great. Concluding this EP, we're given 'How to Stay Lonely'. This song adds something different! The guitar plucks are crystal clear and beautifully mixed - I like that this track brings a reverb free (or reduced) sound. You really get to hear the talent behind the guitarist and the dreamy synths lift this piece to make use of the space without overpowering the entire mix. The absence of vocals is a great thing to highlight as they make you listen to the artists production skills. Overall I think this artist is very talented, as self funded artists sometimes the lack of money means that we can't bring our projects up to the standard that our visions hold but it's really important for the talent behind the artist isn't understood or heard. I think that the final track made all of the difference to this EP in the way that it showcased what I believe is the tip of the iceberg of this artist's potential. Dylan Sherry should definitely keep going at it and not take the criticism as a knock, take it as construction. I can really see this artist making even bigger moves and look forward to keeping an eye out for developments in his sound!