If pop culture in 2019 had a face, it may well resemble that of
Gus Dapperton, the pastel-hued, androgynous New York twenty-something whose woozy, experimental releases so far have been a talking point in music and fashion spheres alike. His debut full length’er glistens with colour and a refreshing sense of innovation, living up to all the promise of the EPs that came before it.
Like his eccentric fashion sense, which often comprises of vibrant eye shadows, thick-rimmed specs and floral print to die for, Gus is a musical magpie with the ability to cherry pick the shiniest nuggets of inspiration from a range of eras, carve them up and stick them back together to form a glistening new product that chucks any notion of ‘genre’ out the window. On ‘Polly People…’ snippets of psychedelia, 80s pop and new wave, hip hop beats and post-Y2K glitchy chiptune are all neatly glued together by Gus’ infectious persona and curious poetic lyrics.
With ‘
Prune, You Talk Funny’ and other earlier cuts, it was Gus’ dream-pop Mac Demarco melodies that earned him countless online hits, but ‘Polly People’ shuns the whimsy in favour of a gloomier tone. Recorded over a year in the downtime between gigging worldwide, the record explores the ins and outs of relationships as a young adult, and how they’re ultimately tied to self-acceptance too. On ‘
Nomadicon’ he laments of a regretful encounter, “I hated that I hurt you just for fun / It tasted like the perfect medicine” whereas ‘My Favourite Fish’ finds him yearning for a girl over uber-smooth synth squeals: “I don’t usually fall in love, I’m not used to fa-la-la-la…”
As an artist who started his musical career making beats in his bedroom at is parents’ house, there’s a deliciously home-made, analogue quality to Gus’ tunes, courtesy of a beaten up drum machine he copped off eBay. It clicks away in the backdrop of each song, bringing more life to the vintage aesthetic he manages to so perfectly capture.
