How long before a modern pop artist’s life starts to belong to the public? How many notable songs, movies, or events must occur before the public can make claims and demand that the artist never change the things that made them famous in the first place?
An artist would have to possess a pretty callous heart to find themselves in this position and not start to feel … a little trapped. It’s a golden cage that the loving public is fashioning for them, and everyone fights out of it in their own way.
For Kramies, the journey toward freedom is paved with beautiful melodies and achingly melancholy-filled lyrics. This is a departure for an artist whose sunshine-filled musical arrangements have been the calling card up until now.
In fact, the title of the new EP “Goodbye DreamPop Troubadour” dares to poke fun at an otherwise enviable title that the songwriter has earned through the music press.
Instead, the new set of songs finds the artist trying to incorporate a kind of mythical darkness while not ditching the sounds with which he’s worked on for so long. Take, for example, the opening track, “Perfectly Dreadful,” which sounds a lot like a soundtrack created for a nightmarish fairground, the introduction to a story about monsters and witches, where, still, the main character gets out safe and sound by the end of it.
The acoustic guitar strum of “Social Light” intersects with the singer’s dramatic vocal delivery, one that, in this instance, brings to mind classic prog-rock groups like Marillion. Take note of the arrangement, the way that the melodies of the instrumental section blend with those produced by the vocals! This is a constant theme throughout this song collection.
Meanwhile, “Summer Scurry and Our Holidays on Sunset” is a standout, with a sound that makes you feel like you’ve unearthed a recording of Steve Harley singing in a dark cabaret show.
There’s humour and cynicism to be found on “Hollywood Signs,” music turned into a spectre that haunts the beautiful and rich during nighttime hours. And, there’s even room for tortured folk confessional material on the closing track “Between the Moon.”
But where does this all leave us? On the title track, “Goodbye DreamPop Troubadour,” Kramies seems ready to embrace both his blessings and curses. The artist who works to create beautiful sounds may be, secretly, passed out on the floor backstage, but there’s more work to be done, more beauty to be revealed. Of course, the audience will demand it. But, who can blame them, really?
