The track from Vancouver band Dralms “Pillars and Pyre,” is actually reworked from Christopher Smith’s 2012 solo EP, and I”m pretty much obsessed with it and was more than a little psyched to find out the band recently announced their debut LP “Shook” was released on October 2nd.Dralms, this is the latest project for songwriter Christopher Smith, is more a reinvention than a fresh moniker.
Working with long-time collaborators Shaunn Watt, William Kendrick and Peter Carruthers, the project
delivers a darker, more complex sound than that of Smith’s solo work. Bringing into the equation Andy
Dixon’s production and electronics Dralms packs a heavier punch, instantly dragging the listener into the depths of the song and demanding undivided attention.
The band’s first release, Crushed Pleats, has a swampy ambience and deep bass pulse. Smith’s lyrics push
listeners to look through a dystopian lens, exposing powerlessness, fear, rhetoric, and ignorance. The
socio-political implications on Crushed Pleats’ track “Divisions of Labour,” exist contextually, behind a confession of lust. Smith’s words drip with derision as he chants longingly, “if my heart had its will / kill kill kill.” The title track, “Crushed Pleats,” grows from a fog of drone. Howling gusts of ambience haunt Smith’s tale of portent seduction as he sings, “you let your hair down / little birds come tumbling to the ground.”
Beyond the poetic prowess of the lyrics, the band’s strength is their ability to devise all-consuming instrumental build-ups. These forceful swells are thickened with cavernous bass chords and weaving electronic textures; Smith’s vocals sit atop as smooth and varied as stained glass.
Dralms is currently working on a full-length album at Afterlife Studios in Vancouver,
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The Fat Angel Sings 