in The Tender Dream
NNA, 2021
8/10
Her first record under her own name, the multi-talented artist Sally Decker manipulates sound with a very precise control and in unpredictable ways that spread out over 8 tracks of highly experimental song craft.
Decker starts the listen with the erratic and creative electronica of “The Other Side”, that’s ominous, sci-fi friendly and ambient, and “All Possible Realities” follows with a dense buzzing amid darker textures.
Further down the line, “Abode” enters dreamy territory that drones with a warm delivery, while “In The Tender Dream” recruits a minimal quality that benefits from glitchy moments and strategic hiss. “Affirmation” then brings Briana Marela in on vocals for an effective repetition in its echoing sparseness.
Arriving near the end, the album highlight, “Endlessly”, offers cosmic intimacy that’s as charming as it is mysterious, and “Seen” exits the listen with a thick execution of noisey feedback run through a filter of imaginative songwriting.
An album that was birthed when Decker moved to Oakland, her own personal growth aligned with her artistic growth, and it results in a very unique and alluring brand of electronic exploration that you’re not going to find anywhere else.
Travels well with: Alice Cohen & The Channel 14 Weather Team- Artificial Fairytales; Jorma Tapio & Kaski- Aliseen