2022 - USA
Shoegaze, Dream Pop, Ethereal Wave
Matthew Doty lives in the new Los Angeles, somewhere in a small apartment where flats keep being constructed. His wife and him are essential healthcare workers, fighting the pandemic for more than two years now. His time, his intimacy, many things have been endangered, many things except his music. On his sophomore album, Matthew Doty, under the name of Deserta, finds a way to escape his tortuous life in order to face all the fears he carries, taking a step back from his reality. A life of work, apprehension and perseverance. Describing himself as an introvert, it’s no surprises that his music can be identified as shoegaze and dream pop, mainly focusing on textures, drowning his voice and lyrics in distorted and languish sounds.
But something differs from his 2020 first album Black Aura My Sun. The vocals are more present and striking. His voice, still drowned in dreamy guitar sounds, allows us to enter his inside world with precision, conveying a deep emotional impact. While his tone cannot find the strength to highlight his struggles, as he says on I’m So Tired, his compositions (Far From Over, Goodbye Vista) send us into orbit where everything becomes sometimes anxious, but most of the time clear and calm. Working between four walls, Deserta crafts his own musical landscapes, creating space where there is none, inspired by the shaken world around him.
Every Moment, Everything You Need is an anthem for everyone desperately trying to rest. Filled with images of ghosts and lovers, tracks like Where Did You Go, It’s All a Memory and A World Without focus on what’s missing, what has left. When thinking about his wife, Deserta thinks about what might happen to her in her everyday life, always through contact with ill persons. Reflecting on his fears, fear of the future, fear of the pandemic, fear of being alone with himself, fear of what he’ll find in his brain, Deserta chose to widen his mind and his apartment so as to understand his solitude. He’s not drowning in it. He tames it. And it sounds beautiful.
“Lost in the weight of
Your own design
There’s a way outside
You’ll find
Patiently as time goes by”
(Lost In the Weight)
Being stuck inside your whole self. With the pandemic, most of us found themselves with nothing else but our own reflection, standing in front a mirror, seeing things that were not there, damaging our mental state. But Deserta is making a bet. Trouble don’t last always. He finds hope in the opening track, despite everything going on in his life. The main theme of the album is clear : endurance. And in order to keep fighting, not to lose his mental well-being, his music is the perfect ally.
But something differs from his 2020 first album Black Aura My Sun. The vocals are more present and striking. His voice, still drowned in dreamy guitar sounds, allows us to enter his inside world with precision, conveying a deep emotional impact. While his tone cannot find the strength to highlight his struggles, as he says on I’m So Tired, his compositions (Far From Over, Goodbye Vista) send us into orbit where everything becomes sometimes anxious, but most of the time clear and calm. Working between four walls, Deserta crafts his own musical landscapes, creating space where there is none, inspired by the shaken world around him.
Every Moment, Everything You Need is an anthem for everyone desperately trying to rest. Filled with images of ghosts and lovers, tracks like Where Did You Go, It’s All a Memory and A World Without focus on what’s missing, what has left. When thinking about his wife, Deserta thinks about what might happen to her in her everyday life, always through contact with ill persons. Reflecting on his fears, fear of the future, fear of the pandemic, fear of being alone with himself, fear of what he’ll find in his brain, Deserta chose to widen his mind and his apartment so as to understand his solitude. He’s not drowning in it. He tames it. And it sounds beautiful.
“Lost in the weight of
Your own design
There’s a way outside
You’ll find
Patiently as time goes by”
(Lost In the Weight)
Being stuck inside your whole self. With the pandemic, most of us found themselves with nothing else but our own reflection, standing in front a mirror, seeing things that were not there, damaging our mental state. But Deserta is making a bet. Trouble don’t last always. He finds hope in the opening track, despite everything going on in his life. The main theme of the album is clear : endurance. And in order to keep fighting, not to lose his mental well-being, his music is the perfect ally.