Liza Dries – A Year of Love

      An intoxicating sound design reminiscent of club music intertwining joy and melancholy...

      Landing on the Netherlands’ Intercept Records—a label gaining recognition for showcasing some of the most promising new talent in electronic music such as French II, Ineffekt, and Tspeo—is Berlin-based artist Liza Dries, who presents an eight-track project at the intersection of hyper-pop, ambient, shoegaze, and club genres.

      “‘Year of Romance’ serves as a personal time capsule that encapsulates a phase of reason and desire in 2023,” says Liza. She addresses the disparity between holding on and releasing; a blend of hedonism and freedom mixed with feelings of bleakness and anxiety, deeply rooted in the experiences of a global pandemic. “So, along with a group of friends, we declared that you can embrace your most sentimental and romantic side in 2023,” she continues. “You can sit alone in a café with your notebook, becoming the protagonist of your own story, and give yourself the freedom to indulge in actions that may seem cheesy, despite that little voice in your head telling you ‘you shouldn’t do that.’”

      ‘Year of Romance’ features a rich and intricate sound; each track contains approximately ninety to one hundred layers. The opening track ‘Babybloom’ showcases an impressive attention to sound design, reminiscent of production found in MISOGI or YEAR001 projects, filled with lush atmospheres, autotuned vocals, and swirling synths intertwined with reverb, leading into the emotive strings and icy vocals of ‘Underwater’ that draw the listener further into Liza’s vivid dreamscape.

      ‘Happy Too’ starts with a similar beatless, hardware-driven ambiance comparable to Barker's works, before completely transforming into a piece of pop-club music with hints of EuroDance, suitable for a DJ set by A. G. Cook or Sega Bodega.

      In ‘Year Of Romance’, Liz explores various sounds—drum ‘n’ bass in ‘Nightcore’, broken techno in ‘Solaris’, and reggaeton in ‘Heavy Birds’—while maintaining a cohesive vibe through her remarkable attention to sonic intricacies. As the album unfolds, the dream-pop textures in ‘Heartbreak’ convey the restlessness experienced before awakening from a dream, while the exotic, percussive elements and wild parakeet samples in ‘Solaris’ coax the listener to gradually open their eyes. Additional samples on this track come from the very heart of Los Angeles, a place where the dynamics of dreaming versus waking can be embraced by simply wandering down the street.

      This captivating struggle between daydreaming and despair is now solidified, existing like an ecosystem encapsulated within a terrarium or snow globe. “At this moment, I feel time has shifted once again, and these songs seem trapped in their context,” Dries reflects. “I sense a longing for fragility and authenticity—elements that feel human: tangible and grounded. Thus, I endeavor to confront reality, and this album mirrors my inclination to drift away into a self-created realm. I'm aiming to be more conscious of the deeply rooted influences from the past that shape my current behavior. A myriad of small choices and events that mold our beliefs and existence—key moments in life that others might dismiss in mere minutes.”

      8/10

      Words: Andrew Moore

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