Dayve Hawk, better known as
Memory Tapes, creates evocative
music that, as his moniker suggests,
is nostalgic but still rooted
in the present.
“Most of Player Piano is about
a personal relationship falling
apart,” Hawk said in an interview
for The Quietus. Yet with the album’s
upbeat and bright pop
composition, one would never
guess its solemn design. After the
album’s quiet instrumental intro,
“Wait in the Dark”
(a track about childhood
abandonment
translated into a love
song), Player Piano
flourishes to life with
Hawk’s paper-thin
vocal wails and keyboard
whirls.
The album’s first
single,“Today Is Our
Life,” waltzes with
doo-wop finger snaps
and chimes, a pipe organ
keyboard (Hawk’s
primary rhythm maker),
and his own mellow
vocals coming in
waves.
The second single,
“Yes I Know,” drifts between
dreams and reality. Its foggy and
sombre melody evokes surreal
imaginings of a summertime bike
ride after midnight. The LP’s upbeat
pop track, “Sun Hits,” shines
with energy, evoking music greats
like Roxy Music and New Order. If
there’s one thing Memory Tapes
offers his listeners, it’s assurance
that music provides hope, a light
in the dark.
