#orchidtapes

FOG LAKE  “Rattlesnake”

Judging from some not-so-elusive tweets from the Orchid Tapes crew, it sounds like Melbourne-based Katie Dey will soon have her album asdfasdf cut by the Brooklyn-based label. I’ve had her hazed out collection of ambient pop tracks on constant repeat the past few days, and so I’m happy that her Bandcamp-based sound will (hopefully) soon be packaged into physical cassette form. To prepare for this imminent release, it sounds like Dey is now busy on her own “personal branding” i.e. making a Facebook fan page.

Dey’s songs are understated in their emotive rawness, but as soon as you stop listening you can’t wait to put her tracks back on endless loop. The simply titled “y o y o” veers between unpretentious rhythms and scrappy yet melodic vocals whereas “fear o the dark” begins with an improvised r&b beat before transitioning into pitch-imperfect crooning. If lo-fi rock is more your jam, then the record-opener “don’t be scared” -- with its minimalist strumming over static energy -- is a great primer for the rest of her album. My favorite of the bunch is the synth-infused “you gotta get up to get up,” which ends the collection with a sonic punch of optimism -- the perfect aesthetic for Dey to cap off her album, since I’m sure she has even brighter things in store.