Dogends isn’t a run of the mill record. It’s an experimental piece, one that utilises poignant spoken word poetry alongside vibrant and diverse sonic elements to paint entire soundscapes that take you on an aural journey that serves as a canvass to illustrate the words. You’re taken where your imagination allows you to and where the words guide you to. The record is a collaboration between two old friends. The expressive poetry of Lou Hill is paired alongside the sonic creativity of Gareth Jones to visualise the work into something larger than its halves.
Dogends is a homage, not a random collection of poems. It is bound together by themes of the past, ideas and memories of growing up, the spaces, and the people that made and defined you into who you are. Hill traces moments and memories from his past, putting them together in a neatly stitched collection of poignant poetry that illustrates the minutia and nuances of growing up in North London. There’s an honesty to the record, a love letter to a space and a time that’s been painstakingly curated with love, effort, and emotion. It’s like peering in through a looking glass into memories that are incredibly intimate and sincere. You feel Hill’s pain as if it were your own, you hear his stories and try to connect them to your own experiences.
The uneasiness of a piece like Spa Day, subtly ominous and haunting is an exemplary piece that showcases the power of this kind of artistic expression. The ‘whoosh’ just adding to the impressionism. It might not be for everyone, but it’s a damned interesting experience to delve into.