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Pulling from influences as far stretched as the pop sensible, yet sorrowful Elliott Smith to the paranoid rock styling of Radiohead, Texas rockers Matt & The Dronings set the stage for their fresh approach to music with the debut album "For Torching". Following a true DIY ethic, "For Torching" was recorded, mixed, and published by the band themselves in a living room turned studio during the sweltering heat of an East Texas summer. The album kicks things off with three bare-bone songs built on singer/songwriter and band front-man's beautifully simple guitar parts and introspective lyrics ("Forest Fire", "Was This In Your Five Year Plan?", and "Quarter Past Three"), but as the third track shifts into it's second half for "Be Free" we begin to hear the first subtle example of Matt & The Dronings electronic/experimental influences. Leading the way for the next few tracks (the folktronica love song "Keep Talking" and the mellow, psychedelic "The Sun"), the single "Nothing Wrong" features swirling guitars, full instrumentation, and lyrics straight from a therapist's couch (with a chorus anyone with youthful angst can sing along to).
Following six tracks written from Matt's perspective, the album shifts direction with a three part, spoken word piece that displays the roller coaster of human emotion from a different perspective. "Mvmt. 1 (Death)" starts off with a subtle, rolling piano part leading to the story of the anonymous narrator's experience with death. A sleepy, simple guitar underlies an account of a dream, but quickly becomes unnerving and restless in its' shifting tempo for "Mvmt. 2 (Dream)". The album concludes with the noisy, Reznor tribute of "Mvmt. 3 (Response)" which features droning guitar and piano parts, distorted vocals, and blaring feedback; a surprise ending for the otherwise calm album, but a symbol for Matt & The Droning's unwillingness to settle with one specific sound.
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