Dylan Goff – Untethered (side two) (2023)
In a society where the youth are growing up far too quickly, it seems that a person should “have their stuff together” by the time they turn 20. In my day, you were still figuring things out in your 20s – life was a journey, although you should probably have the house, car, kids and decent job by the time you’re 40. Unfortunately, the world found itself in a hurry and singer-songwriter Dylan Goff uses his poetic music as a catharsis to deal with this situation. The latest addition to his discography is the EP Untethered (side two).
Following his debut EP Untethered (side one), Untethered (side two) is an elegant combination of five carefully crafted tracks. Leaning towards indie-folk, each song tackles complex topics ranging from depression, a sense of loss, finding who we are as people, and accepting our limitations. In an interview with the Austrian blog Klangskizzerei, Goff shared that he “confronts mental health a lot through my music, it’s important to me that I don’t shy away from that because those demons have much more power in the dark. As I approach 40, I’ve been writing more and more songs that start to explore the idea of what it means to be a good man and how to try to unlearn the damaging bullshit we learn as boys about what way we should be…”
As I mentioned, Austria-based Dylan Goff uses music as a catharsis to cope with life pressures. In the same interview with Klangskizzerei, he explained that “—music is a part of my life…for me, if influences creep in subconsciously that is perfectly natural and is part of the evolutionary process…” On Untethered (side two), we can see (or rather hear) the development and versatility of Goff’s sound from ‘I Get Lost’ to ‘Digging’ and ‘Old Argyle Sweater’. Retaining his typical folk design, the intimate guitars and bold vocals touch your heart; however, Goff sprinkles soft pop sounds adding a contemporary edge to his music.
It is difficult for me to choose a favourite track on Untethered (side two). Perhaps this is because Goff’s intimate connection begins with the opening ‘I Get Lost’ and carries you through to the final track ‘Old Argyle Sweater’. Interestingly enough, while each song has a soothing tone, they also hold profound gravity making Untethered (side two) simultaneously smile-inducing and thought-provokingly poignant. This is particularly evident in the sparkling track ‘Behold Our Smiles’. Insatiable, intoxicating and intriguing, singer-songwriter Dylan Goff explores human fragility and vulnerability with poetic delicacy.
For more from Dylan Goff, check out his official website, Facebook, Instagram and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
