At first, Huggable Dust seems to be a break up record, but it is much, much more. It grows and blossoms and touches on so many aspects of the heart: longing, loss, obsession, disagreement, and resilience. Okay's Marty Anderson writes and performs his songs with a uniquely kaleidoscopic approach of mixing repetition and variation. This is the language of pop music, of course, but Marty's songs fold in on each other acrobatically in ways that aren't always apparent on a single listen. Multi-layered and baroque, dense layers of technological and organic sounds fizzle under gentle pop melodies.
E**Y
Quirky and unique, but oh so great
First off, I have to say it is worth owning this album just to experience all it's quirky glory if nothing else. I have yet to hear anything else quite like the sound of Okay, and this is a lot to do with Marty Anderson's distinct vocals, but that is exactly why it is so refreshing. This isn't a sound that's going to sell out stadiums, or hit the top of the charts, but that is perfectly ok with me. Having heard only 'Panda' and 'Only' before buying this I decided to take the plunge and buy the whole cd, and I have to say I was definitely not disappointed as it went above and beyond my expectations.At 18 tracks this initially looks like a pretty long album, and you may think it would start to drag after a while, but quite a few of the songs are only about 1-2 minutes long, and it comes out at just under an hour for the whole cd. This is definitely a good thing, and every song feels like it is a suitable length. Nothing feels cut short or dragged out, and the variation in length is another refreshing aspect. Even within this short length some of these songs show incredible talent, and he's an expert at unexpected build ups and getting a big sound from small songs. That's not to say that he's also not proficient at the slow build up though, as shown by the longer songs such six and a half minute finisher 'Asleep'.There is a lot of varied styles in this album, and this can lead to a slight lack of cohesiveness across the whole thing, but there is just so much to love about it that it is easy to look past this. There is something almost childlike about many of the songs and the style of Marty Anderson's vocals and lyrics and you can really feel the truth and emotion in his words, and the personal nature of his song writing.This is just a fantastic album that is so much more than I was expecting when I bought it. On first listen it may seem the songs are simple, but look just under the surface and there is a lot more depth. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for something different and refreshing to brighten up their day, and I think you won't regret buying it.
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2 weeks ago
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