Confused Reality is the bright and uniquely interesting new album from Of Something Found – a creative duo comprised of Bonomo, on music, mixing, programming, and Hyphen Dom; on vocals and lyrics. The music takes the colourful energy and vibrancy of pop and fuses it, almost organically, with a slightly more indie-rock or even classic rock and roll aura.
Look At You is the opener and a strong way to begin. Colourful guitar riffs and synth or key melodies arrive all at once, followed shortly afterwards by Hyphen Dom’s leading vocals – a unique and characterful voice that delivers these completely unexpected, fresh ideas and lyrical outbursts. The song is layered in so many ways, the final section of the song repeats the hook – this particular, theatrical sentiment, in a way that makes certain you’ll remember it. Things continues in a similarly independent, original sort of way.
Just Because offers up fresh riffs once again and a slightly more gritty edge to the performance and the writing. Dirty Dollar Bills continues this further, the angst and edge of the music, the thick bass line, the leading voice – it all appears now in a clearer cut or more minimal way that really lets the style of the sound surround you. Then More And More offers up something distinctly mellow and emotional, yet it’s still soaked in that same sort of chaotic drama – Bonomo has created the Of Something Found sound as the sort that brings together skillful musicianship, endless creativity, unlimited passion, and unstoppable personality. This song cascades hypnotically around you.
Dreaming grabs your attention with another simple yet captivating bass line and a contrastingly higher instrument riff – a glockenspiel, followed soon after by some retro or medieval sounding strings. The melody here is delicate and surrounded by so much space that it really reaches out to you. Hyphen Dom’s lyrics are, as always, the sort that keep you intrigued throughout.
Is That Really You In There is another hugely dramatic and detailed piece of music and writing that incorporates elements of spoken word and again draws you into the centre of the action in a strange and intriguing manner. This project paints a number of bizarre and beautiful pictures, unpredictable in every way, yet musically satisfying at the same time in that everything builds and resolves appropriately.
Ever The Run is a gorgeous song, lovely riffs set a country rock or Western sort of scene, fast paced lyrics arrive almost like a rap performance, then this smooth and dreamlike hook contrasts again with what preceded it – making for a hugely effective and enjoyable few minutes of listening. This one is a personal highlight, the mood and the evolution in the story line and within the instrumentation is brilliant.
Things are broken down to the more raw and acoustic with Chasing Crazy, a well placed, softly emotional piece of music and writing, performed in a hugely vulnerable and honest way that really grabs you at this point within the collection. Hyphen Dom’s leading voice has a certain gentle exhaustion about it here that delivers this story-line beautifully. C’mon Girl follows on perfectly, in my opinion. These songs seem to get better and better, the performances too – the realness increases and your understanding of the various concepts starts to grow as things progress. The second time you listen, the familiarity makes it all sink in a little deeper, and the songs shine brighter and brighter in every case.
The album comes to a powerfully dreamlike finish with Touch, a spacious and ambient piece of audio that falls around you in a rhythmic yet slightly haunting way; thanks to Bonomo’s top notch approach to mixing. The music and the melody and the lyrics are all at once calming and provocative – they make you consider the ideas, they invite you into the story and the experience, and it works really well.
This is definitely the sort of release that reminds you of the power of the album, the strength of a collection of relevant songs thriving under a particular light – the experience is much more mighty when taken on in its entirety, as intended. Easily worth a fair few listens and then some. Really interesting, unusual, and impressive.
Listen to the album on Spotify. Visit the band’s Website for more information.
