During the summer in a stuffy office on Market Street, next to the window where I received what is known as a ‘tan’, Facebook alerted me to a post on one of the many pages I update. It was a message from a musician named Justin D’Onofrio and he had left a link to his music. Those who know me are well aware that I have been listening to his music ever since, and making others do the just the same. The Brooklyn singer/songwriter is not to be overlooked by any means.
His music unites all of the daydreamers of this world, as ‘In A Dream’ proves quite exquisitely. This handcrafted, lo-fi and gorgeously crackly song sounds as if it were being played through an old gramophone. Embedded within this playground of delicate ‘dreampop experimental folk’ are lyrics which I believe to be a true escape; ‘In a dream I swore I saw you between two trees, and the trees were me, and they fell’. Like a dream, this song is your own interpretation. It could be about hope, someone you are about to meet, or someone you have met. It is simply the loveliest song I have heard in quite some time, and it is only the first song on the EP.
‘Rock and Roll’, much like ‘In A Dream’, it has a real vintage feel. It reminds me of the film Stand By Me, and 1950’s summer romances.
‘Funeral March for a Black King Because Nobody Loves a Genius Child’, sounds as if it were being played from an old jewellery box, with the little ballerina rotating mechanically.
‘War’, has darker connotations, and as ever, is about a girl. A blues, acoustic guitar introduces a sweet yet sorrowful melody, bringing with it sounds of an old merry-go-round slowly coming to a halt.
‘The songs are not produced really at all but I think that’s ok. People shit on “lo’fi” as a genre but I like it…’ Justin D’Onofrio.
I implore you to listen to this artist and all of his works.
http://grandpawasalion.bandcamp.com/album/archaic-ep
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Grandpa-Was-A-Lion