Cover art by TL Reid
Deepfieldview is the musical vision of Danny Lackey, the founder of the When the Sun Hits musical blog. Danny passed away of cancer in 2013, leaving his project unfinished. Producer Charlie Nieland and his wife Nancy Nieland (Her Vanished Grace), Danny’s wife Barbie Lackey, Eric Matthews (Cardinal), Anna Bouchard (Drowner), and Joey Levenson (SPC-ECO) all contributed to this project and brought it to completion. But more importantly, Danny contributed to all these tracks musically. His wonderful friends and wife just put a finish on it, writing lyrics and adding musical arrangements on top of that.
Photo by Danny Lackey
It is an obvious labor of love and tribute to Danny that his friends and family did this in his honor. Deepfieldview is a hazy amalgamation of shoegaze, dream pop, tripped out jazz, and electronica. Give a listen to “Great Escape” for an excellent example of this, where Eric Matthews contributes vocals and even trumpet (to name a few). His voice is buried deep in the mix while his trumpet is prominently featured (it reminds me strangely of the theme from Homeland). He also sings on the gorgeous but sad, “21 Grams”, which will tear your heart out even while you’re nodding your head from its aural bliss. “She’s Adorable” is another great track, with Charlie and Anna trading vocals. “Sun Dappled” opens the record, and its title perfectly reflects its dream pop vibe with a side of Cocteau Twins.
“The Wind” really kicks it up a notch, and features sweet-voiced Nancy at the mic. Then Barbie Lackey chimes in on “The Old Guitar/ La Vie”, her warm vocals curling lovingly around the sensual arrangements. “Junegloom“is aptly named, with Anna Bouchard’s airy vocals piercing through the almost solemn melody and not quite letting in the light. I’m quite taken with the instrumental ‘gaze track, “Celestia”, with both Danny and Charlie covering all the instrumentation.
All in all, this is a wonderful collection of songs, despite its sometimes gloomy overtones. Recommended highly for fans of the aforementioned artists plus anyone who enjoys beautifully played and sung music
Check out the Deepfieldview project on:
