THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Ask Dan Melchior about the underlying narratives that play out in his records and he’ll say he doesn’t pay much attention to them. They reveal themselves in ways that are personal to the listener. He simply goes where they lead him.
A lot has come to pass in Melchior’s life over the last few years. He made a cross-country move from his longtime home in Carrboro, N.C. to the greener pastures of Austin, Texas. He’s embarked on a new relationship, and … oh, yeah, there was a global pandemic that shut down the whole world for a couple of years.
It’s difficult not to try connecting the dots when listening to the the U.K.-born U.S. transplant’s latest album Welcome To Redacted City and its self-explanatory songs such as Going Outside, The Right Influencer, Incel Country and Imagine Caring. Backed by a full band that includes Chris Girard on bass, Anthony Allman on keyboards, and drummer Clark Blomquist, Melchior finds a cohesive, live-band feel that echoes his earlier recordings with the Broke Revue band, not to mention his older releases for In The Red Records.
Garage-punk, loads of distortion, and exquisite melodies careen with a poetic and renewed vigor here, each element underscoring an album that is decidedly of the times. Each song navigates a maze of modern dilemmas, viewed through the TV and computer screens as the world goes to hell. But Melchior channels his anxieties into 21 uplifting numbers that sit alongside personal disasters and triumphs — the kinds of things that one obsesses over while living in isolation. The driving bass in Voyager and the ominous voice in Get Right Back spouting “They say you can never go back home again,” expand upon any and all expectation, as Melchior’s words carry just as much weight as the low rumble of the music.
Jumping from captivating melodies into bluesy punk-inflected chargers, the dots start to connect themselves in Redacted City, giving rise to an album steeped in menace and delight, paranoia and confidence.”
