Dave Belding “Little Dancer”
Dave Belding has been in a band for a long while. In the face of changing and new adventure, the artist brings us the first release from his solo project. “Little Dancer” sees a lo-fi, organic production and genre-bending vision comes into realization. The weird and the bizarre carries many thought-provoking commentaries, centering around the core message of setting free, be the dreamer and not being let down by others’ judgement.
“Little Dancer” is by all means a very fascinating track. There’s the obvious influence from Belding’s experience being in a band—the hard-hitting, elevating track sets right in between a full-band live performance and an intricate studio recording. What’s really shocking is how much Belding is able to bend and stir the genres together. One moment, you hear the half-step infused dissonance of the contemporary vocabulary, the abstract and bizarreness of the avant garde, the other you hear jazz, but then there’s hard rock, post rock, post grunge and lo-fi all so emotively woven together.
“Little Dancer” can’t really be categorized into anything. It exists in the the in-between, where forms, formulas, and rules are broken, only the visions, thoughts, and ideas that come together organically. A deep dive, sinister guitar crawls in the background. The obscurity and mist around it seems to permeate deeper into the sonic atmosphere. It’s counterpart is a slithering guitar that at times sound like an expressive string instrument.
Thought it’s abstract and contemporary, the track doesn’t stir away from mesmerizing melodies that hit even hard in your heart. Just like the music that sort of spreads out in all dimensions in its sonic storytelling, Belding’s reflective lyricism consists verses of very interesting commentary that loosely revolve around the theme. Lines like “Wishing’s fun but thirst makes you move” is one that instantly earns your respect (it’s also the opening line). “On the stage you're a shooting star/I applaud you. Black and white you know who you are” seems to tackle imposter syndrome. There’s the pain and thrill of being a musician, and it doesn’t seem like Dave Belding is shying away from it.
