Last fall, Cleveland native Dylan Baldi began recording songs in his parents' basement, on a computer, under the name Cloud Nothings. By December, Baldi was playing his first show, opening for lo-fi kingpins Woods and Real Estate in Brooklyn. There was one snag: Baldi, 18 at the time, was in the middle of his first college finals. He opted to drop out, play the show, and spend his time touring and recording like wild.
Turning On is a compilation that lassos together nearly everything from those first several months, including one split cassette, a 7", and the cassette-turned-CD-R-turned-vinyl LP from which it takes its name. All of the songs have been floating around online for a while, but the comp is as much a primer for a forthcoming full-length as it is an early portrait of a young songwriter with an immediate ear for what works and why. Though Baldi figured out pretty quickly how to deliver his hooks in a variety of styles (see: the post-punk squall of "I Am Rooftop" or the AM-radio twinkle of "Strummin'") his strength lies in always giving straight-ahead pop mechanics license to spazz out. Verses boast sharp fangs, choruses beg repeating, and everything is presented with throaty conviction.
But what becomes clear most quickly is how much these songs would benefit from a studio and band. (Baldi recorded every instrument himself.) Beneath his chorus and backup vocal on "Waddya Wanna Know", you can barely make out a handsome guitar line that, if heard more clearly, would only tease out more melody. Three quarters of the way through "Water Turns Back", the disc's highlight, Baldi solos loosely but very faintly, the sound of his Fender almost completely buried in an already heady mix. Moments like that are scattered throughout this compilation, though to really hear a difference, you need to hear something new.
Released alongside Turning On, the four-song Leave You Forever single, recorded this summer, finds Baldi giving his songs a bath. The guitars are clean and sharp, there's a drummer with verve behind the kit, and as a result, every hook is more vibrant. From the slingshot pace of the title track to the La's-like ribbons of "Talk to Me" to the harmony-enriched coda of "You Were Scared", there's a lot at which to marvel. Here, Baldi sounds not just like a guy getting over a girl, but someone whose melodic understanding continues to evolve as his confidence grows.
