Douglas Dare – Omni Review

What does Douglas Dare sound like?

Chamber pop electronica swaps the chamber for the club scene.

The review of ‘Omni’ by Douglas Dare

Approaching his fourth album ‘Omni’, Douglas Dare has completely changed his instrumentation. After several albums of chamber pop, piano-forward folk and a splash of electronica, Douglas has binned all the acoustic instruments. This album is all about the drum machine and the synth. It is his ode to club music – something Douglas revels in. Think Arca and you’ll be in the right ballpark this time around.

Douglas Dare has always had moments of bassy electronica in his previous albums and so this isn’t the jarring experience many of his listeners might worry about. Dare has dared to keep the sonic shapes of each track direct and streamlined. He isn’t focused on layers, this is about the thumpa-thumpa is a 2am beat and seedy, seductive and lustful basslines, synths and vocals. The lead single ‘Mouth to Mouth’ features Rival Consoles and the rubbery bass throbs and pulsates like sweaty vinyl as the beats and vocals envelop you like a rhythmic possession. Douglas’ vocals are rarely the focus of the mix but he does dual his voice often to create a tightly woven harmonic duality. This works well with his off-kilter chords and arpeggiators on the opening track ‘Three Roads’. As hypnotic synths writhe or cascade like synth flutes, the song sounds dark and unnerving with some sexy stalking going on. Using the lyrics and vocals as a rhythm occurs across the album but ‘Absentia’ homes in on it. The warped trip-hop beats are chunky and the hushed lower register allows Dare’s voice to be chopped up into an eerie and haunted motif. Marc Almond in his darker moments would approve. It’s very ‘The State of the Art of Falling Apart’ tonally and I’m here for it.

After the opening trio paint a dark, dangerous and seductive world to inhabit ‘Sailor’ takes us out to sea. A tale of an unmoored dream of secret love, the piece flows with a dreamy sway and constant frequency shifting. The extended outro lets Douglas bring in weird sample sounds and a taut string arrangement. It is the first time the album opens up from its dense club world to mix in an airy quality. It leads beautifully into the mysterious title track. ‘Omni’ is a vocal sample arrangement that reminds me of Tanya Taqag and other throat singers. Douglas’ voice is digitally warped to throat sing the word ‘Omni’. Whilst the backing vocals are soothing, the whole track feels slightly unnerving too.

Moving towards the electronica arenas of acts like Fever Ray, Imogen Heap and Mandalay, we approach ‘Teach Me’. This track has a seductive grinding bass and clicky beat made of interesting effects rather than drums. The main melody is played using mbira-style instruments to give lightness to the lust. As I associate that tuned percussive plinking with Imogen Heap, that’s why the track reminds me of her but stylistically, it’s seductive like Fever Ray’s freaky side. It is also one of the few tracks that use reverb. The album avoids it largely, instead focusing on crisp and direct sounds. ‘No Island Is a Man’ is a mid-tempo rave and barely uses reverb outside of a post-chorus jangle and a watery grammaphone piano outro. It makes the throb of the rave synths sound more dynamic and forceful without playing too much with the volume.

This album sounds so crisp, at times it is like being in a vacuum. I am reminded of music being made in Soho in the late 80s and early 90s. Pet Shop Boys going off to the fetish fair and they won’t be returning until they’ve satisfied themselves. It allows tracks like ‘Painter’ with its slinky, curious woodwind samples to saddle up to you and grind against the seedy bassline and tin beats. Douglas flips a switch from the hunter to the lover with ease but sexual confidence reigns supreme throughout. The retro dance flair is celebrated with ‘8w9zeros’. Big chunky house beats from 1991, thick bass squelches and techno-goth vocoder effects collide in the best way possible. The album then closes with the 80s sounding synth dreamweaving track ‘The Stream’. It sounds like a fantasy novel as Douglas paints a new world to awake in. Warped and magical in a David Bowie meets Kate Bush way, it is a beautiful way to close out an album.

Whilst the sexual tension isn’t quite as overt as Lil Louie and that orgasm song, sexual energy throbs across the whole album like an electric current. So many of these tracks are certified bangers (that you could happily bang to) yet Douglas Dare never leaves out the loving side of sexual chemistry. That duality – and a penchant for unusual earworms – makes ‘Omni’ a potent record. I’ll have ‘Omni’ on repeat for a long time to come. Douglas Dare’s 180 into the dance world is superb.

Recommended track: Three Roads

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