Straylings are Dana Zeera and Oliver Drake. Now 16+ years into their lifespan, the UK-based duo requires yet rewards their fans’ patience. Their first self-titled 4-track EP was released in February 2008, but the band waited four years before releasing their full-length debut, ”Entertainment on Foreign Grounds” (Deadpan, 2012), and another six years before sophomore ” Wild Medicine” (Deadpan, 2018).
Another six years has passed until the duo’s latest effort “Call Back Your Name” (Deadpan). And while this is only LP number three, Straylings are at their well-tuned apex. In making the record, Dana and Oli also enlisted long-time Hungarian friend Levi Szendro on drums. Otherwise, the songwriting, arranging, mixing, and production were all done themselves. They fire on all cylinders from start to finish, resulting in an unyielding and potent 11-track journey.
Dana reflects on the album’s timeline and its importance while attending to this record’s creation. ““Living in times where speed is a priority, it forced us to explore personal limits and confront any self-limiting beliefs we had. There’s the idea of the tendency to forget, or to lose oneself along the way – the album is a call to pull back and re-orient life force or energy regardless of outside influences.”
Straylings’ songcraft deserves the grand sentiments previously doled out by BBC’s Lauren Laverne and Steve Lamacq among others. I’m kicking myself for not even hearing of them until recently. Now I’m feverishly making my way through their back catalog.
Blending California canyon pop, classic rock, indie, and folk, their Middle Eastern-tinged arrangements are pristine and bold, full of lush flourishes. The band’s not-secret-at-all weapons are Oli’s virtuoso guitar work and Dana’s piercing and wide-ranging vocals. One moment you hear Fleetwood Mac or Fairport Convention but then they summon PJ Harvey, Mazzy Star, or especially a folk pop favorite of mine; San Francisco’s Miranda Lee Richards.
Oli is no question a gifted guitarist, and one who is hard to stylistically pin down, making this LP thoroughly enjoying to listen to over and over. While his resume includes indie band The Veils, he seems to effortlessly muster Lindsay Buckingham and George Harrison just as easily as Will Sergeant and The Edge, weaving deftly through a range of indie staccato riffs and bluesier leads. Melodically he and Dana occasionally invoke a Middle Eastern scale, which makes sense considering Dana is of Bahraini descent. [Make a note right now and listen to “Muddy Walls” on ” Wild Medicine”. It’s Straylings’ answer to Echo & The Bunnymen’s genius-level song, “The Killing Moon”.]
Speaking of the moon, the new record kicks off with “Silent Moon”. Originally slated as a single, the opener came to fruition when Dana and Oli combined pieces they’d independently worked on. Oli reflected on his contributions, “[My] instrumental pieces became the intro and post-chorus sections. It transformed the track toward a heavier feel, where it became more focused on the energy and rhythm.” The track builds with lithe, lively bass lines and Harrison-esque vibrato slide guitar. This song and others like single “How Long” envoke the beautiful aforementioned California canyon pop sound, but Strayings imbue arrangements with 60s and 70s keys and more timeless string passages. It all amounts to something deeper than any one genre can convey.
“American Kid” is next up and a superlative single. Oli’s guitars are set to Lindsay Buckingham and “Kid” sounds like a lost Fleetwood Mac outtake from “Rumours” (Warner Bros., 1977). The tune jabs and jaunts with addictive guitar arpeggios and tempo shifts, and a sing-a-long chorus you’ll hum all day long.
The LP’s title track (originally a single from 2021) begins as a moody acoustic piece with a stark, spooky 60s feel. Vibrato electric guitars and a gentle rhythm build, giving this tune a perfect road trip vibe, before it devolves into hushed notes in the last 30 seconds.
Straylings wisely get more acoustic at times and to sharp sequencing effect. “Sorrow For Gold” has a decidedly Baroque pop feel, as does “Breathe Under Water”. Meanwhile “Who Bears” is predominantly a piano ballad, all the more powerful because these latter two songs sit bookended between the toe-tapping, twangy Americana-ish “Overtime Gods” and sparkling, mid-tempo, road trip mixtape gem “Great Divide”.
Sounding like a contemporary, tuneful pop cousin of the 1966 Beatles classic, “Tomorrow Never Knows”, the LP closer “Shatter” is a rush of swirling psychedelia. Jangly and mysterious, Dana’s hypnotic vocal builds and expands with trippy shifting effects. Oli’s guitars kaleidoscope and harmonize with different overlay effects interplaying in glorious rapid fire succession. Turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream indeed.
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