Indie Music Album Reviews

Art & Woodhouse - Dream in Disguise

11/19/2013

Art & Woodhouse

Dream in Disguise
self-released; 2013

3.8 out of 5

By Dan Alcantara

What began as a creative partnership between musicians Andy Delisi and Dan Sadler of Kingston, Ontario became a four-piece after the pair moved to Toronto. With the additions of Pat Daniher and Joseph Mcdonald, the band took the name Art & Woodhouse and played their first show in March of this year. A month later, they released their first EP entitled "A Sides.” Now, they're back with the five songs that make up Dream in Disguise.

The songs on the EP were primarily written by singer Andy Delisi, with the exception of "Elephants," which was written by Delisi and Dan Sadler together. Delisi also arranged the strings and extra non-band instruments that make up a lot of the ambient aspects of the music. The band recorded at their apartment in Kensington Market as well as Hive Studios and their producer's studio in Toronto.

First impressions of Dream in Disguise were that these guys have spent a lot of time listening to Paul McCartney's work with Wings. Everything from the arrangement to the orchestration in the opening track "Dream In Disguise" screams of McCartney. The band is equal parts Barenaked Ladies and the artist-formerly-known-as-Cat-Stevens in "Elephants.” The Wings comparison comes in strong again with "Goodbye, Goodnight" a song that reminds me of the feel of the London Town album. It's also the shortest song on the EP and begs to be played a few times through before moving on to the next track. "GreenHouse" is kind of more of the same as the rest of the tracks. It's more Barenaked Ladies than Cat Stevens but it still sits in that general vein and does so well. The band is anything if not focused. They close out the song with a live recording of a song called "Mrs. Stevens" which shows that the band is just as in tune with each other live as they are in the studio.

This is a very old feeling EP. The ground that Art & Woodhouse is covering is very well trodden and it's trodden by some very big shoes but the band manages to fill those shoes with a surprising amount of grace. These guys are talented and have a definite ear for what their predecessors did with music.