Though conservative in his approach to the harmony in the album’s title cut, “Let it Shine,” and “Once a Part of Me,” David Gelman isn’t afraid to show us a little bit of aesthetical experimentation in “No Peace of Mind,” “Time on My Hands” and “Maybe Tomorrow,” all of which can be heard on his most recent studio effort, the poignant Dusty Highway. Dusty Highway is an album defined by its joyfully unpredictable compositional landscape; while some tracks, like “Fight My Way,” quietly crush us with pastoral poeticisms, others, like the potent instrumental “Dusty Highway (Instrumental String Quartet),” are much more blunt and forceful with their melodic dispensing. The bottom line? David Gelman’s new LP isn’t for the casual pop fan, but for those whom it was designed to please, it’s a personal watershed for its starring singer/songwriter.
There’s been a ton of surrealism affecting the general direction of American indie rock in the last five years, and though I would say that Dusty Highway fits in with this trend exceptionally well, I wouldn’t agree with any critics who would claim Gelman is applying trade standards to any of his songcraft in this release. He’s applying elements of the aesthetic to the harmonies in “Dusty Highway (Instrumental String Quartet)” (especially around the midway mark), the swing of “Lay Me Down” and the thrusting groove of “Let it Shine” in a way that I just can’t picture any of his closest rivals attempting, all without ever having to lean on the classic singer/songwriter formulas that many of today’s college rock darlings would develop an entire LP around.
I would have liked just a bit more emphasis on the vocal in the mix in “No Peace of Mind” and the growling rocker “Stuck on Broadway,” mostly because I think that the singing Gelman presents us with in this pair of songs is some of the best he’s ever committed to master tape. He’s got an amazing range that we get to hear free of annoying filtrations in “Lay Me Down,” “Maybe Tomorrow” and “Once a Part of Me,” but I do feel like he could have exploited it a little more in the aforementioned tracks to create more of his signature sparks. When I listen to one of his songs, I want to feel all of the energy that his singing can produce, because, at its most climactic, his voice could crumble even the hardest hearts of stone.
It’s not without a couple of minor surface flaws here and there, but all in all, I think that David Gelman’s Dusty Highway is a must-listen in 2023 for anyone who loves the alternative beat. The American underground has never sounded or felt as alive with diversity as it does today, and with artists like Gelman leading the charge into a new era of experimentation via the music we hear on this LP, I think it would be safe to say that we can expect a lot more excitement left of the dial in this presently-unfolding decade. I’ll be keeping this singer/songwriter on my radar, and I would seriously recommend that you consider doing the same.
Garth Thomas