Search - Dolour :: The Years in the Wilderness

The fourth and strongest album to date by Shane Tutmarc's Dolour, "The Years in the Wilderness" is an ambitious 19-song set split up into two parts: the bombastic, occasionally dark rock of Storm & Stress and the lighter, but moody, jazz-pop of Hell or Highwater. The new album is a departure from Dolour's previous albums, New Old Friends (2004) and Suburbiac (2002), which were very manicured, production-heavy albums, featuring hundreds of over-dubs performed by Tutmarc himself. On this album, Tutmarc looked to the past to find a fresh way to record; inspired by Miles Davis's recording sessions, he gathered his favorite musicians and let the songs come together live in a Seattle studio over two very full sessions. Storm & Stress combines the grandeur of Led Zeppelin's more ambitious tracks with the pop-noise of the Pixies and Nirvana. Hell or Highwater showcases Tutmarc's love for traditional American songwriting, with nods to gospel, country, Americana, and Tin Pan Alley. Themes of love, spiritual yearning, and self-doubt lend a warmth and depth to this music that is beyond Tutmarc's years.