The Dowry

July 6, 2007

“Have another glass of wine, I’ve got a story and I’m sure you’ve got the time”, Sean Deolanardi sings on “Cigarette”, the first song of The Dowry’s debut album The Circus & The Sea. His fragile voice goes on to sing about “love and loss and life and crime” with an acoustic guitar strumming in the background. A concept album is a quite ambitious for a debut, but the story-in-three-parts that the Bloomington, IL band tackles here holds up beautifully due to strong sense of songwriting and style. The songs paint a picture for you of a dusty old western bar and themes of depravity and redemption flow through it’s entirety.

My favorite stretch of the album begins with “Pleasure Island” an upbeat song about a town where they “do what they please and they say what they mean” that ends with an accidental killing after shooting rounds into air. The rolling piano and the twangy guitar serves as a backdrop for this tune, that also features a very catchy chorus and some seemingly Johnny Cash-inspired lyrics. If you’re a fan of Murder By Death, then you’ll probably recognize this dusty western road style sung with deep, burrowing vocals, but I’d also recommend The Dowry to those who favor the passion and emotional investment in the story that Okkervil River portrays. Buy the album at emusic.

MP3 Pleasure Island
MP3 Cigarette

The Dowry’s Myspace

Posted by Taylor in Artist Spotlight