Posted Sep 1, 2019 at 9:48 PM
Genre: Alt rock
Written by
Becca Carroll
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Del Water Gap just wants to get a little closer
It’s the everyday moments that matter for DWG. His new EP Don’t Get Dark is a lesson in the realities of life and love.
Del Water Gap is an acoustic indie project out of Brooklyn that’s been led by S. Holden Jaffe for the better part of the last decade. Named after exactly what you’d think – that is, the geographic landmark that divides Delaware and New Jersey – the soundtrack of DWG goes deep, and it’s got layers. (More than the fairly-surface-level monomer might imply.). It’s easy to reduce this artist’s ‘brand,’ let’s say, to something as basic as a phrase that someone saw one time (which, to be fair, is about as far as Jaffe’s story goes), but to only see it from the surface would be to overlook the deeply cerebral world that makes up Del Water Gap. Over the years of forming his heartfelt collection of singles and EPs, Del has built an intimate terrain of tunes made up of gentle inner cores, that simply want to get a little closer.
Getting closer – that’s what Holden’s in it for. So much so that he named his second EP, “1 (646) 943 2672,” which, at the time, was the direct line to a burner phone he kept stored in his bedroom. Still studying at New York University at the time of the release, he’d get about 20 messages a day, and if he happened to be home when it would ring, he’d answer. I know Del Water Gap’s broody, unplugged punk may be cut from the acoustic cloth, but this was no lowly-folk-artist facade. There’s nothing ever safe about putting yourself out there with your fans, which I think speaks more to Holden as a human being than it does him as an artist.
And this humanity is all over this new material. Take the title, for example, Don’t Get Dark – if you know this artist, then you know this stuff, regardless, does get pretty dark. The EP speaks on life and love with alarming realism, and stares these topics in the face with an impressive balance of both fear and grace. These new tracks in particular evaluate the average and mundane that comes with any real relationship or romance, but does so in a way that adds a sense of weight to even the simplest or most joyful aspects of coexistence. Things like one sad look from a lover turns into a horrible bout of nostalgia; or someone shaves their head and it’s immediately symbolic of what their life will look like once it’s all grown back. It’s all very hyper-analytic, and, of course, very real, which, clearly, is the way that Jaffe likes it.
So, we know this guy is partial to intimacy, so as his first new release in two years, Don’t Get Dark‘s fairly brief five-track format begs the question, just how close did Jaffe get to this new material? Because these tracks feel quite meticulously made. Take “Don’t Say Nothing,” the opener that starts with just acoustic fingerpicking, and grows into a percussion-heavy chorus, complete with stunning arrangements, sweet harmonies and clean riffs. And the lyrics are even sweeter – so pure you’ll want to melt:
Tell me how you slept last night, did you wake in a daze
Of memories from fore you knew my name?
And tell me what can make you cry, did you eat enough today?
Cause you’re looking awful skinny in the face
Don’t say nothing, cause I love you when you don’t know what to say It helps me make you something that I wouldn’t ever have to change.
His music’s not all soft, though. “Theory of Emotion” and “Laid Down My Arms” feature some awesome, wailing guitar, and form this cool acoustic-electric fusion that emits a DIY vibe, without sounding like it was made in GarageBand. However, he’s mentioned more than once that his inspiration stems from ‘romantic encounters in dark rooms,’ so it’s probably safe to say he leans more towards the softer moments in his music. His ability to nail these softer moment may just may be his biggest strength – his lyrics just makes you feel like you were there, or at least like you were in the room with him when he was writing.
Holden serenading a pig in Montana via YouTube
But with all of this emotion leaking through, there’s bound to be a bit too much revealed. He’s mentioned that in this current age of music – where people don’t just cancel shows, they cancel humans, and everyone believes they’re on the verge of something big – has made him feel the need to test his creativity more than ever. He’s feeling what so many have, which is this sense of urgency, brought on by a culture too consumed with validation to slow down for the sake of weighing in on what they’re feeling. But DWG is different; he takes moments that seem distant, sometimes even non-descript, and sometimes just plain ordinary, and piles layers of some truth, some fiction, until it all becomes so blurred that truth is no longer important. All that’s left to really focus on is the emotion. It’s these everyday moments that matter to Del Water Gap, where something that seems like nothing, could be made to feel like everything.
Of a poster I saw hanging at the dentist
I was late for my appointment
But the lady at the desk was awfully patient
Pour yourself a coffee, choose a magazine.”
Do you take me as I am?
Cause I’ll take you as I am
And I don’t take things lightly
The extent to which these lines are blurred, this is the beauty of Del Water Gap. What I’ve gained from his misleading title choice is to simply not allow the dark to make us dark. To look at the mundane, the things we do to live or find some peace, with a greater sense of wonder. As in, wonder, next time, about the woman who’s handing you a coffee, like, what’d her morning look like that day? Or wonder what the guy behind the bar is thinking, or what makes that guy cry? Because Holden, I think, does, and there’s some comfort knowing that are still some of those out there just trying to connect.
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Del Water Gap just wants to get a little closer
While I’ll admit this album feels a bit low-impact for the artist, I think it’s only fair to hone in on a song that helps restore this record’s shine.
by: Becca Carroll
Sep 1 2019 | Indie
Del Water Gap is an acoustic indie project out of Brooklyn that’s been led by S. Holden Jaffe for the better part of the last decade. Named after exactly what you’d think – that is, the geographic landmark that divides Delaware and New Jersey – the soundtrack of DWG goes deep, and it’s got layers. (More than the fairly-surface-level monomer might imply.). It’s easy to reduce this artist’s ‘brand,’ let’s say, to something as basic as a phrase that someone saw one time (which, to be fair, is about as far as Jaffe’s story goes), but to only see it from the surface would be to overlook the deeply cerebral world that makes up Del Water Gap. Over the years of forming his heartfelt collection of singles and EPs, Del has built an intimate terrain of tunes made up of gentle inner cores, that simply want to get a little closer.
Getting closer – that’s what Holden’s in it for. So much so that he named his second EP, “1 (646) 943 2672,” which, at the time, was the direct line to a burner phone he kept stored in his bedroom. Still studying at New York University at the time of the release, he’d get about 20 messages a day, and if he happened to be home when it would ring, he’d answer. I know Del Water Gap’s broody, unplugged punk may be cut from the acoustic cloth, but this was no lowly-folk-artist facade. There’s nothing ever safe about putting yourself out there with your fans, which I think speaks more to Holden as a human being than it does him as an artist.
And this humanity is all over this new material. Take the title, for example, Don’t Get Dark – if you know this artist, then you know this stuff, regardless, does get pretty dark. The EP speaks on life and love with alarming realism, and stares these topics in the face with an impressive balance of both fear and grace. These new tracks in particular evaluate the average and mundane that comes with any real relationship or romance, but does so in a way that adds a sense of weight to even the simplest or most joyful aspects of coexistence. Things like one sad look from a lover turns into a horrible bout of nostalgia; or someone shaves their head and it’s immediately symbolic of what their life will look like once it’s all grown back. It’s all very hyper-analytic, and, of course, very real, which, clearly, is the way that Jaffe likes it.
Del Water Gap is an acoustic indie project out of Brooklyn that’s been led by S. Holden Jaffe for the better part of the last decade. Named after exactly what you’d think – that is, the geographic landmark that divides Delaware and New Jersey – the soundtrack of DWG goes deep, and it’s got layers. (More than the fairly-surface-level monomer might imply.). It’s easy to reduce this artist’s ‘brand,’ let’s say, to something as basic as a phrase that someone saw one time (which, to be fair, is about as far as Jaffe’s story goes), but to only see it from the surface would be to overlook the deeply cerebral world that makes up Del Water Gap. Over the years of forming his heartfelt collection of singles and EPs, Del has built an intimate terrain of tunes made up of gentle inner cores, that simply want to get a little closer.
Getting closer – that’s what Holden’s in it for. So much so that he named his second EP, “1 (646) 943 2672,” which, at the time, was the direct line to a burner phone he kept stored in his bedroom. Still studying at New York University at the time of the release, he’d get about 20 messages a day, and if he happened to be home when it would ring, he’d answer. I know Del Water Gap’s broody, unplugged punk may be cut from the acoustic cloth, but this was no lowly-folk-artist facade. There’s nothing ever safe about putting yourself out there with your fans, which I think speaks more to Holden as a human being than it does him as an artist.
And this humanity is all over this new material. Take the title, for example, Don’t Get Dark – if you know this artist, then you know this stuff, regardless, does get pretty dark. The EP speaks on life and love with alarming realism, and stares these topics in the face with an impressive balance of both fear and grace. These new tracks in particular evaluate the average and mundane that comes with any real relationship or romance, but does so in a way that adds a sense of weight to even the simplest or most joyful aspects of coexistence. Things like one sad look from a lover turns into a horrible bout of nostalgia; or someone shaves their head and it’s immediately symbolic of what their life will look like once it’s all grown back. It’s all very hyper-analytic, and, of course, very real, which, clearly, is the way that Jaffe likes it.
So, we know this guy is partial to intimacy, so as his first new release in two years, Don’t Get Dark‘s fairly brief five-track format begs the question, just how close did Jaffe get to this new material? Because these tracks feel quite meticulously made. Take “Don’t Say Nothing,” the opener that starts with just acoustic fingerpicking, and grows into a percussion-heavy chorus, complete with stunning arrangements, sweet harmonies and clean riffs. And the lyrics are even sweeter – so pure you’ll want to melt:
Tell me how you slept last night, did you wake in a daze Of memories from fore you knew my name? And tell me what can make you cry, did you eat enough today? Cause you're looking awful skinny in the face Don't say nothing, cause I love you when you don't know what to say It helps me make you something that I wouldn't ever have to change.
His music’s not all soft, though. “Theory of Emotion” and “Laid Down My Arms” feature some awesome, wailing guitar, and form this cool acoustic-electric fusion that emits a DIY vibe, without sounding like it was made in GarageBand. However, he’s mentioned more than once that his inspiration stems from ‘romantic encounters in dark rooms,’ so it’s probably safe to say he leans more towards the softer moments in his music. His ability to nail these softer moment may just may be his biggest strength – his lyrics just makes you feel like you were there, or at least like you were in the room with him when he was writing.
Del Water Gap serenading a pig in Minnosota
But with all of this emotion leaking through, there’s bound to be a bit too much revealed. He’s mentioned that in this current age of music – where people don’t just cancel shows, they cancel humans, and everyone believes they’re on the verge of something big – has made him feel the need to test his creativity more than ever. He’s feeling what so many have, which is this sense of urgency, brought on by a culture too consumed with validation to slow down for the sake of weighing in on what they’re feeling. But DWG is different; he takes moments that seem distant, sometimes even non-descript, and sometimes just plain ordinary, and piles layers of some truth, some fiction, until it all becomes so blurred that truth is no longer important. All that’s left to really focus on is the emotion. It’s these everyday moments that matter to Del Water Gap, where something that seems like nothing, could be made to feel like everything.
That reminds me Of a poster I saw hanging at the dentist I was late for my appointment But the lady at the desk was awfully patient She said, "honey won't you sit across from me? Pour yourself a coffee, choose a magazine." Do you take me as I am? Cause I'll take you as I am And I don't take things lightly
Posted September 1 2019 at 5:31 PM
Written by Becca Carroll
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