Words by Joe Booley.
Dana Gavanski‘s ‘Spring Demos’ is a gorgeously simplistic release, reminiscent of early material from Marika Hackman, and French musician and actress Soko.
With the rough and ready production style, the listener is left with the perfect-imperfections that make this release. Dana lays out her haunting performances on guitar and vocals, with the sporadic appearances of harp and bass clarinet. This gives the stripped-back demos a hidden depth, which is so elegantly executed in the track ‘The Wind (Blew You Away)’; with the introduction of simple harp plucks and use of the extended range of the bass clarinet (to the point I mistook it for a flute at first).
Towards the end of the EP you find the song ‘Circles’, a track almost fully formed on discordance, something that had been hinted throughout the release. While I consider there to be very few artists to pull this off, Dana has delivered a skilfully crafted example.
‘Spring Demos’ is a breathtaking release with so much depth translated through the quiet, delicate songs of the Canadian songstress, leaving us only hopeful to hear her next offering.
Filed under: EP review, New music, Preview Tagged: alternative music, Bandcamp, Dana Gavanski, folk music, Fox Food Records, indie music, new music, Spring Demos
