Ferro Dormer - “Joany”
Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Ferro Dormer has just released the gloriously eccentric psych track, “Joany.”
Although this is a slick, polished production, “Joany” I would categorise as a sun-bleached psych track that is reminiscent of albums like the acid laced Smiley Smile. It is gentle, vivid, strange and disjointed much like the underrated gem by The Beach Boys, but definitely not childlike.
Built over a stomping, lethargic beat the track shapeshifts and twists much like a kaleidoscope. It gives us beautiful Paul McCartney RAM era moments of intimacy, trippy interludes into rap, as well as segments that feel decidedly anthemic. But it is the addictive fever dream sound scaping that simply steels the show.
Vapour trails of flute Mellotron drift through the mix, wild, abrasive Berlin-era Bowie textures, the kind that bring to mind Tony Visconti’s claim it “f***s with the fabric of time,” collide with acoustic guitar and blown out lead guitar lines that brings to mind Tame Impala’s Lonerism. In short, “Joany” musically is an opulent, technicolour, mind bending trip.
On the track Ferro Dormer adds: “‘Joany’ is the sound of reconciling martyrdom, algorithms, the ache to belong, and a pulsating contempt for conformity. Featuring Joan of Arc (aflame) at odds with Ed Sheeran’s gargantuan cultural shadow - the song is a warped prayer and a shape-shifting mantra, a confession, a threat, and a smouldering statement of intent. Drifting irreverently between ‘Folk,’ ‘Bedroom Pop’ and ‘Indie Rock,’ Joany whispers, sings, raps and chants - answering only to dreams and subconscious currents.”
Intimate, colossal and simply sublime, “Joany” is one of the strangest, inventive tracks I have reviewed so far. The track is taken from the forthcoming album, Look at This Ugly MF.