DP - In Bloom

DP

In Bloom
self-released; 2013

3.6 out of 5

By Carly Bush

DP has chosen a mysterious, ambiguous pseudonym under which to release his music. His real name is Domenic Petrella, and he is a highly ambitious musician from Montreal who composes and plays multiple instruments on all of his albums. He is far from a slacker; his most recent album, In Bloom, is his third release in less than a year. His instrumental music, far from delicate and ambient, is solid, pervasive, moody, and passionately certain about itself. Deep bass lines, indie rock-inspired riffs, and the constant pulse of a drum machine blend together almost flawlessly, the intricacy of the layers of each individual sound making it difficult to believe that this is not a full band of very skilled musicians playing professionally, rather than one man recording, mixing, and mastering his own music in a basement studio.

Specifically on tracks such as "Hanging Out," it is evident that bass is DP's preferred instrument. It plays a prominent role in many songs, which perhaps gives the music that certain solidity and heaviness that much instrumental music lacks. It doesn't drone on like noise rock or drift on oceanic waves like an electronic piece. It doesn't even sound remotely digital, despite the drum machines, and is a welcome relief from so much instrumental music made entirely with the aid of technology. It sounds like an instrumental backdrop to an alternative rock album, if anything, except without vocals–and this seemingly glaring omission is actually what endeared me to this album. It provides a full band's worth of instruments, offers a lot of individuality and character, and carries itself thematically all the way from beginning to end–all while completely lacking vocal additions. 

You could vividly imagine a low, gritty indie rock vocalist providing this last final component to the album, but really, it's fine as it is; DP's biggest challenge on tracks like "Going Nowhere," that possess obvious dramatic lifts and falls which might usually be accompanied, say, by particularly melancholic lyrics, is keeping you fixated on where the music is going next, and he succeeds at doing this. As such, lyrics are not crucial. It would just, admittedly, be intriguing to see what might happen if DP branched out and worked with a vocalist in the future. It's also notable that although DP says that he likes to keep things as simple as possible, no guitar chords as such are even present on this album. There are only smooth, seamless riffs, and the effect, combined with complementary bass lines that always stand out and never get lost amongst the chaos, is deeply impressive

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