Perhaps one of the greatest attributes good music has is its ability to paint vivid landscapes through sound, emotion, and vibe. In my own humble opinion, Dylan Brady might have painted one of the most beautiful pictures through music that I can remember from an independent artist in a long time. In getting to know Dylan a bit, and following his music closely, it’s easy to see that the young DIY-man from St. Louis is doing exactly what he wants to with his sounds. This spring, Dylan released his debut project – All I Ever Wanted – and over time it became one of those low key go-to’s on SoundCloud whenever someone is asking, “hey, give me some new music to check out.” From top to bottom AIEW sets an ominous, almost painful mood which is important as a listener when trying to gauge just where an artist’s music is coming from on a personal level. If you’re a sucker for drums, as I am, then nothing here will let you down beginning from the first bass kick in Piano Prelude and lasting all the way until Finale. What you see, and hear, is all the result of Brady’s tireless work ethic and creative input. The man is responsible for the distorted autotune whines, the heavy hitting production, and the flawless art direction. The albums stand-out track to me has to be the infectious Little Bando (which is also probably my favorite music video of the year done on little-to-no budget). 314 featuring the rapidly rising Night Lovell is an in your face listening experience, and the build up is of epic proportions – giving me the same vibe that I’d get when the Chicago Bulls announced their starting lineups in the Jordan days. What ties AIEW together seamlessly is the complimentary voices heard throughout. Nok the Future, Night, Robel Ketema, Kevin Abstract, Ravenna Golden, and Saputo all came to the table with their A games showing that Dylan has a complete understanding as to who to place where.
Dylan has set himself up to really breakthrough in 2016. I’ve been seeing his name pop up in a lot of places, and it seems that everyone I see listening to him has some pretty incredible adjectives to throw out there when describing his music. All I Ever Wanted provided the better part of my personal soundtrack in 2015, and I can’t wait to see what Brady, and the rest of his HELLA squad, has in store for 2016.
