Andrew Combs’ sixth album celebrates new-found contentment.
“Dream Pictures” is Andrew Combs’ sixth album and his second for Loose following on from “Sundays” (2022). While its predecessor’s mood was dark following a pandemic era breakdown, “Dream Pictures” finds Combs relaxed, chilled perhaps.
The album was co-produced by Combs with drummer Dom Billett. With the exception of instrumentalist Spencer Cullum, who contributed to pedal steel, ”Dream Pictures” was entirely recorded and performed by Combs and Billett. Embracing the imperfections that came with the homemade tracking process, they even captured Combs’ vocals with a series of live-in-the-studio performances, resisting the temptation to edit different takes together for a more polished product.
The record opens with an ambient piece ‘Fly In The Wine’ which sounds like it was recorded in a bar, but is apparently field-recorded audio from a visit to Richard Serra’s installation at the Bilbao Guggenheim.
The second track, and first song, ‘Eventide’ sets the mood for the bulk of the album with an electric piano and a lush arrangement which calls to mind early to mid-1970s pop/soft-rock with, to these ears at least a dash of the similar era Philadelphia soul sound. Combs relatively hushed vocal adds to the ambience creating a mood of warm sleepy late afternoons in keeping with the lyric.
Coombs has described the album as “[being] about contentment: being at ease with who I am and where I am at in my life and career”. The stories in the songs themselves address different facets of that contentment. Some of the songs seem to nod to other artists such as ‘Point Across’ (Wilco) and ‘Mary Gold’ (Paul McCartney).
The seventh track ‘Genuine And Pure’ which likely opens side 2 of the vinyl comes as something of a surprise being led with guitar and Cullum’s exquisite pedal steel. Combs’ vocal is a bit more nuanced, hinting at early period Ryan Adams. ‘To Love’, the tenth song, takes off into some interesting distorted guitar which breaks through the general ambience and draws back drifting attention. The penultimate ‘The Sea In Me’ harks back to the sound of ‘Pure And Genuine’ with another excellent contribution from Cullum. The album closes with the title track which meshes piano and pedal steel with Combs’ vocal reaching into higher registers as the title repeats through the chorus.
It is good to hear with “Dream Pictures” that Combs is able to celebrate his contentment, although it is likely that listeners’ enjoyment will be affected by the degree to which they love mid-1970s pop/ soft-rock.
