By Kristin Anderson
Wake up in your crash pad, light your incense and turn up the volume on this one. The Diamond Center’s "My Only Companion" could wake the dead like the rhythm of hard rain. Kyle Harris and Brandi Price’s self-released second album, due out June 9th, is melodic and made for the tragic movie ending. This independent Texas trio has delivered a musical intensity worthy of timeless praise. Mystical and sexy, "My Only Companion" resonates a sound from a different time, when music was not over-produced but soulful and gritty.
The title track, "Dos Fridas," hosts Brandi Price’s lyrical stylings. Brandi’s voice emulates a youthful yet soulful vibration that brings you through what seems like an infinite climax of creativity. Eliciting a Mazzy Star inspired sound, Brandi’s voice challenges the Nancy Sinatra boot pounding drumbeat, keeping you in time with fate and purpose. Jana Price’s possessed drumming, which is best described as sassy and surf worthy, can only be matched by that of a beating heart that wants to pound. Worthy of a Moroccan belly dance, "Dos Fridas" calls on a depth driven energy that could dig into the roots of any man’s soul. Cut to Jim Morrison, spinning around in a wild hallucination of tribal drumming and the sweet sound of a woman’s wanting. Are you with me?
"Bombay Beach" puts Kyle Harris on the mic, providing a yin for the yang of Brandi’s softer sound. Calming and exotic, Kyle bares all, voicing the honesty of a man singing his longing to a higher power as if alone in the shower. Kyle’s sentimental and soothing sound illuminates the sensitivity of a Tim Buckley coffee house tribute. "Bombay Beach" has a simple but piercing vibration that carries like a Middle Eastern meditation chant. Jana Price’s drumming delivers a familiar but ideal revelation that marches deliberately throughout the song. Brandi and Jana Price’s sweet chimes soften and parallel the oohs and ahhs that leave you feeling like hope is not lost.
Indie music may not have seen this one coming, but The Diamond Center will not be ignored. "My Only Companion" has truly harnessed a sound that drives and inspires. The inevitability of this album’s success is dependent on people’s ability to be honest with themselves about what lies beneath and what is right in front of them. The Diamond Center’s "My Only Companion" is inspired with a Haight Ashbury influenced sound that seems to have traveled to far off lands and gotten lost in the daydream that is this life.
Pack your bags Diamond Center, it’s time to leave Lubbock and get ready for your close-up. Destined for true success, this album will comfort your need for nostalgia yet deliver you to places you have not been.
Wait until Quentin Tarantino gets his hands on this one for his next cult flix.
Track preview:
| Dos Fridas |
| Bombay Beach |
Popularity: 9% [?]
[...] POSTED BY KRISTIN ANDERSON ON APRIL – 17 – 2009 [...]
Felt like I was in the same burger place, where we watched Uma Thurman and Johnny Travolta dance the night away. A unique use of echo..
Big potential as long as repeating the chorus doesn’t become a bad habit. Four Stars Good for blazin on a sunny afternoon!