Creative Direction by Liv Slaughter; Photo by Haasan Barclay

Dad Jeans has been lurking around the shadows of Boston’s indie-psych scene for a few years now as both an artist and sound designer, a troubadour of sonic landscapes. Always with a penchant for the out-there experimental, the musician has been making his way out in Los Angeles since moving out away from Boston in recent years. While he was still around here, he forged a strong creative partnership with Haasan Barclay (and keep an eye out for future collabs these two might drop, *wink* *wink*). Since the move, he’s been hard at work developing new material, an effort which is now coming to fruition as DJ is set to release Bottomless, a new EP project that’s fresh to streaming services as of today. 

Over the EP’s five songs – which fit so seamlessly together, a testament to the expanding production vision that Dad Jeans has been developing – dreamy synths, fuzzy guitars, and crisp electronic drum beats revolve around each other. This winding build-up gives tension to even the EP’s most lucid moments. It’s clear that DJ has been working with a unique, specific sonic template in mind, evidenced by earlier singles like October’s “Halfspace” and his cover of the Pixies’ “Wave of Mutilation” over the summer (both fantastic tracks, but an interesting choice on DJ’s part to omit them from the final tracklist of the EP!). 

As the orchestration and arrangements take center stage, Dad Jeans’ lyrics can sometimes get lost in the fray, but this works more to the EP’s advantage than against it. Tuning into the words for a closer listen – especially on tracks like “Staircase” and “Sepulcher” – you get lost in this very isolated headspace. These words are being sung across heaving mountain ranges of sound and sweeping landscapes; Dad Jeans is just riding this wave of emotive, explosive fuzz.

Stream Bottomless below.