What does Dormer. sound like?

The weariest rocker looking for a place to rest his head.

The review of Dormer. – Concerning Me

Placing themselves firmly in the slow and plodding depressive subgenre of rock is Dormer.. Their new album ‘Concerning Me’ has got hooks, melodies and disconnected lyrics of feeling like being out of sync with the world. That wasn’t my main takeaway though. It was the album’s heavy mood. It permeates every note and really drags you down.

Take the track ‘Better Late’ for example. The electric guitar hook is lonely and the drums are lethargic. Neither are wooden but they leave enough empty space around them to make the track feel isolating like the song itself is about to break. By the time we hit the chorus, any attempt to sing a slightly more upbeat melody just sounds sadder. This is what Dormer. does really well and each track is a variation on the theme.

‘Secret’ is a bit more stodgy and the vocal delivery is early 2000s emo band does a ballad. ‘Embrace’ has a beautiful music box twirling marionette guitar riff that purposely resolves slightly detuned. ‘Aimless’ ironically is the fullest sounding track on the album with its questioning chord structure. Individually these tracks work well but as an album, there isn’t much variation. They all feel like emotional slogs, at the same BPM, with the same minimalist bass and underpinning guitar arrangement. Yes, ‘In The Clouds’ might have a few wiggly high notes but it feels like too much DNA is shared with all the other tracks. At least ‘Present’ removes almost all the drums to stand out.

‘Concerning Me’ is an album where the mood is so consistently heavy and samey that the songs themselves struggle to breathe. When I split the individual songs up, I appreciate Dormer. much more. This led me to an oddly specific conclusion. Grab this album if you are after a collection of slowcore depressive rock tracks. Then use the individual songs to create breathing notes in bigger playlists. It worked for me and probably says more about my approach to slowcore rather than Dormer. itself!

Recommended track: Embrace

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