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Review: Amen Dunes – Love

Love is the fourth studio album from Amen Dunes, the solo project of Philadelphia based musician Damon McMahon. While his first solo effort under the mysterious moniker came as a result of Walden-style self imposed isolation, it seems that this album of dreamy folk rock has been produced as a result of a more orthodox approach to recording.

This fact may not be so obvious, given the characteristic wear of dissonances, reverberation and lo-fi distortion that many of the songs don, most obviously exemplified in the opening song ‘White Child’. In essence, the album makes for pleasant listening. McMahon’s high-pitch voice is characteristically monotonous, often cutting through a repetitive guitar or piano riff.

Apart from the odd choice of ‘I Can’t Dig It’, a song which doesn’t seem to fit with the rest of the tracklisting, the second half of the album is more interesting, musically and lyrically, a phenomenon that culminates in the title track. This, unfortunately is not saying much, given the bland lyrics detracting from the minimalist, pseudo-psychadelic charm of many of the songs.

While Love has much potential, it feels as though the discord between these two features of the album lets it down.

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