Dead Heart Bloom

Wide Awake and Dreaming is the stunning breakthrough album by New York’s Dead Heart Bloom. Reminiscent of classics such as Urban Hymns by The Verve and Ladies and Gentlemen… by former tour mates Spiritualized, Wide Awake and Dreaming marks DHB’s full realization as a band. The latest record serves as a logical, yet more mature follow-up to their prior releases, including their album Chelsea Diaries, which was nominated for the Shortlist Prize alongside acclaimed works by Wilco, Arcade Fire and Spoon.

Rolling Stone calls Dead Heart Bloom’s music "sublime”, while CMJ praises their “unsettling bluesy yet aggressive rock guitar driven music". Under the Radar magazine has effused that they "come on like the ocean: ancient, enveloping, and with just a little darkness beneath."

Recorded and produced by Carlos Anthony Molina of Mercury Rev in Kingston, New York, the record meshes visionary lyrics and dreamy melodies with warm, stirring lead vocals and expertly-mixed harmonies. Coupled with stomping drums and epic guitars and strings, the songs swell and soar at all the right moments. Molina’s production effort with Dead Heart Bloom is notably inspired by his recording experiences and friendship with iconic producer Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, MGMT).

Discussing the band, Anthony says, "I found that we had a lot of the same early rock & psychedelic/dream pop influences. Regarding his production, he shares, “Producing a track like "Strange Ideas" requires me to keep the most exciting element out in front, whether it's Boris' velvet vocal, the hyper Wurlitzer piano solo, or Paul's sea foam fuzzy guitars."

Critical references to the Beatles, David Bowie, Bends-era Radiohead and Pink Floyd, used to describe Dead Heart Bloom’s earlier work, are also entirely appropriate when describing the sound achieved by Molina and the band on the ten new songs comprising Wide Awake and Dreaming.

Dead Heart Bloom was formed by songwriter, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Boris Skalsky and guitarist Paul Wood following the dissolution of their previous band, the Washington, DC-based Phaser. Having quickly captured the attention of the indie press and radio, Phaser honed their live act touring with such artists as Interpol, Super Furry Animals, BRMC and Longwave. Hand-picked by drummer Jimmy Chamberlin of Smashing Pumpkins to perform in the touring band for his project Skysaw, Boris and Paul further developed their live attack on stage, all the while vowing to solidify the Dead Heart Bloom lineup. Enter former Longwave drummer Jason Molina (brother of producer Carlos Anthony). Formally joining the band in the winter of 2011, Jason was integral to the writing and recording of the new album, adding a rhythmic backbone and notable percussive depth to the material. He explains, "I was first struck by the intimacy of Boris' vocals, and then the fantastically classic melodies hit me. It was an opportunity I couldn't pass up.”

Boris was raised in a Ukrainian household filled with music. His mother was a classical pianist, and his father, a musical polymath who, as Boris says, “Saw no difference between a Schubert lieder and a Beatles song.” In addition to Dead Heart Bloom, Boris is also a classically-trained composer, whose works have premiered in the U.S. and abroad, most recently in a retrospective concert in Washington, D.C. Boris reflects, "As long as I can remember, I've felt the pull of many musical styles, ultimately being in bands all my life. This record is the first that I think truly captures the expansiveness of all the genres that I love."

Paul fell in love with the guitar (and guitar effects) after seeing The Edge perform at Red Rocks on PBS as a teenager. He quickly became obsessed with British indie labels such as Rough Trade, Factory and 4AD, eventually working backwards through the early glam of T. Rex, Bowie and Eno and into late sixties Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd. Connecting with Boris proved to be a perfect sonic match, and their songwriting partnership has continually evolved, culminating in Wide Awake and Dreaming.

"My favorite albums have always combined classic songwriting with cinematic atmosphere”, says Paul. “Boris and I both have a natural inclination for big choruses and instrumental effects. This album is a great balance of live energy, sweeping arrangements and a Wall of Sound production we've been building up to over the past few years."

Wide Awake and Dreaming is a testament to the disappearing craft of album-making. With this refreshing combination of classic songwriting and deeply memorable hooks, Dead Heart Bloom reset the blueprint for analog emotions in a digital world.