Matthew Dear
“New Drug”
Salon Records (available via Bandcamp)
“New drug… takes a little longer…”
Matthew Dear’s latest single “New Drug” could get someone with two left feet moving on the dance floor.
This thing is smooth as finely chopped pure cocaine on a disco ball mirror.
It’s the soundtrack to the sun coming up while you’re still dancing at the club and you don’t have to work tomorrow.
It’s breezy. The bassline is a girthy little bumper that’s as simple and infectious as “Tequilia” by the Champs or the woozy depth of War’s “Low Rider.” Maybe that’s why it sticks to the ribs so much. It feels kinda old and groovy, like it’s been hanging around the record crate for a while.
Dear is an Ann Arbor product. He’s a foundation piece of the Ghostly International label from his hometown. Dear wears a lot of musical masks, from covering a lot of ground in his solo career or brash techno project Audion.
In a lot of ways, “New Drug” harks back to my favorite album of Dear’s. That would be 2010’s Black City. It was dark and futuristic. A record ahead of its time, so it still sounds fresh today.
“New drug… nothing like the old drug…”
“New Drug” feels like a track from that same era but with a bit more sunshine in its programming. It’s like if Leonard Cohen lent his vocals to a collaboration with Hot Chip, or if LCD Soundsystem had more sex appeal.
Dear is releasing this as a collectible 7-inch single via Salon Records and their summer series. It’s being released in early September.
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