Dillon Vanders: Wildfires
Not all folk records are full protest, not all indie records are downtempo sad songs, and not all pop country is bad. A record like Dillon Vanders’ Wildfires reminds us why it’s important to avoid prejudgment, and remember that sometimes we have to keep our ears open, and our mouths closed here and there. A record that feels like it fits in the “country” genre loosely, it also tells the tale of Vanders’ experience in the SoCal indie scene, splashing in folk with its lyrical focus and gritty vocals. The ambience of steel and the poke of compressed lead guitar throughout the record pays homage to the relationship between folk and country, while still sounding fresh.
Those who consider themselves country connoisseurs may feel this is a little less in the “outlaw” scene, and a little more in the swinging pop scene of the 70’s. Clean production, instrumentals that meld into a single driving track behind Vanders’ just raspy enough to be textured vocals. The record feels like the soundtrack to a windows down drive on a summer day, with the wreck you came from in the rearview, and the future you’re building through the windshield.
Lyrically Vanders writes about topics stretching from the personal to more observational points of view on society as a whole. An advocate and longtime employee of the cannabis industry in California, the topic of the ever evolving industry also makes a sneak peek here and there. Vanders, not wanting to make it an obvious plot point, buries that commentary behind more universal topics, like heartbreak and dealing with change. Wildfires in its entirety drops on April 8th and the microcosm melting pot of SoCal indie, vintage pop country (before that combination of words became a sin), and raspy folk songwriting deserves a few listens. Give Dillon Vanders your time, and you won’t want it back!
Find out more about Dillon below:
