dimples: soul chateau

"No shortage of dune buggy up the canyon honey slide action here. The first tinges of sonic solvent action provide a loosened effect, but just as the tongue gets lazy, the swagger is spat gently from the tip as clarity bursts into the room with the urgency a hungry baby. Delicate without feeling soft. Brash without feeling harsh and at times Dimples swing fucking hard, like JJ and Leon without forcing it one bit. But if you don't like 'new music' this might not be your cuppa. Soul Chateau, isn't an updated prettied up throwback, it's all here and now, in the present time's glory, gore, majestic beauty, and glimmering perpetual urgency. Co-written, equally played, produced, and recorded by Greg Hartunian and Colby Nathan, Dimples is a truly collaborative project. After much of the album was tracked, Greg was involved in a near fatal car accident, rear ended in the right lane on California's treacherous Highway 5. This left Greg, normally an extremely active worker, in a back brace, and in chronic pain. A majority of the song sculpting was done while Greg was recovering. References to mortality, albeit not heavy handed, join the album's themes. Trialed seeds of brotherly music making; communion, collaboration and dedication. Forms of renewal through sonic therapy. Extracting the nuggets from their extended duo jams, Dimples shape these improvisations into luminous, hooky psychedelic electro camp fire sing-alongs, with the occasional guest spot from New England familiar shredders like Big Blood, Tom Kovacevic, and Keith Waters. "There's no waste, only composition. There's no time, only transition." Melding the dry Mediterranean subtropical climate of Glendale, California with the humid and sometimes frigid Continental climate of Maine, Greg, and Colby work the magic, whether it's in the Tropico Beauty studio of the San Fernando Valley, or South Portland's Laughable Recordings home studio. Topping off the listening experience is the incredible album artwork featuring a series of oil paintings by Salvador Charlí, Hartunian's alter ego with a paintbrush. The paintings depict the colorful and surreal inner workings of the world where the Soul Chateau stands tall on the hill. Through the spontaneity of improv and the deliberate and dedicated practice of song writing, what results is a diverse bouquet of carefully gathered fragrant blooms." --Dan Beckman-Moon, 2022