While the rest of Grizzly Bear make the most of the downtime following 2009's excellent Veckatimest, Chris Taylor is doing the opposite: He started a label, produced records for Twin Shadow and Blood Orange, and has now recorded and self-produced Dreams Come True, his first solo venture under the CANT moniker.
It's impossible to talk about Dreams without taking a close look at the production. Taylor's done well to craft a particular in-house Terrible Records vibe, and with its abundant stylish synths and zoned-out bass textures, Dreams feels like a compelling mission statement for that sound. It's a distillation of the dusky, 1980s-leaning atmosphere Taylor carefully molded around Twin Shadow's pop songs on last year's Forget. There are also elements of Grizzly Bear-- more the darkened alleys and left-turns that characterized 2006's Yellow House than the fine-tuned engine of Veckatimest. At this point, though, it feels a bit clinical.
In some ways the sound's the logical opposite of the more lo-fi/bedroom projects of the past few years, but Dreams also suffers from similar problems in terms of depth and emotional connection. There's plenty of surface enjoyment on "The Edge" or "BANG", both showing an impressive attention to detail and easy-riding synths. The tracks' drawling slo-mo funk calls to mind some of Prince's more introverted moments, and Taylor's voice sounds great. But there's a nagging feeling that the aesthetic compositions, here and elsewhere on Dreams, are like bubbles-- they float by with solid-looking, effervescent charm, but burst upon closer inspection.
The cold, surgical atmosphere comes off like something American Psycho's Patrick Bateman might enjoy in 2011: Some of Dreams isn't far from the expensive-sounding Genesis of Invisible Touch, particularly the sterile gloss of that record's "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight". While Taylor is no Phil Collins-- and he errs more on the side of emotional nonchalance than Collins' tendency to over-sing-- they both share an unwavering seriousness. Set against the dense backdrops of the title track and songs like "Answer", that seriousness makes everything feel a bit overburdened, lacking in the coy naivety or light touch that made the Twin Shadow record a fun and interesting listen. (Really, Dreams too often sounds like a retread of Forget with the fun sucked out.)
The record is most gripping at its last breath: The end of "Rises Silent" and "Bericht" find Taylor alone with a piano, shorn of the stylistic trickery. The result is disarmingly tender, adding a few heartfelt minutes of warmth and personal connection, something lacking in the rest of Dreams' gloss.
