Philadelphia musician Dave Hartley, who plays bass and guitars in the indie rock band War on Drugs, recently released his first solo recording project under the name Nightlands. Forget the Mantra is an experimental full length album of self-reflections gleaned from the ideas and sounds that inhabit Hartley’s dreams. Sleeping with a tape recorder by his bedside, Hartley began an ethnographic study of his dreamlife, then layered in vocal samples, found sounds, spoken word riffs, deteriorating cassettes, handclaps, Gregorian chants, Afro-rhythms, choruses and sunny harmonies. Standouts among the 11 tracks include “Glass Vacuum” and the Beach Boy nods “God What Have I?” and “’Till I Die”. – Written by JFelton
SIMILAR | The Invisible Cities, The Matinees, The Mumlers, Or, The Whale, The War on Drugs