The moving new album from Aron Dahl, Moth/Flame consistently engages with an intimate, heart-on-sleeve delivery — capturing emotions through transformations of self and personal connections. A follow-up to 2018’s full-length Loosening Orion’s Belt, Moth/Flame compels with a palpable sense of yearning, within productions that enamor across both quaintly impactful synth-pop to the ghostly folk of “Brief Encounters” and “Ghost.”
Produced by Anders Bach, the new album reflects poignantly on evolving people and relationships, taking inspiration from Dahl’s own experiences. The creative process for Moth/Flame began shortly after Dahl came out as transgender, and themes of transformation persist in both an emotional and physical sense; the latter is conveyed especially in Dahl’s vocal tone, which dropped nearly two octaves across the nearly two years it took to record the release.
Opening track “Brief Encounters” conveys a gripping intimacy within a swelling folk-forward mystique. Lyrical perspectives of a stranger’s embrace — “I was ready to put my clothes on and leave, but then you cooked for me and introduced me to your boyfriend,” — resonate, capturing the connection of others in a solemn world. “My body revealed in their eyes,” the vocals let out, exuding themes of self-discovery and transformation, persisting artfully throughout Moth/Flame.
The subsequent “Lock and Key” enthralls in its portrait of “suffering and healing,” conveying lyrically into a title-bearing melodic impact; heartfelt strings and twangy guitars lovingly complement the bass-accompanied vocal hypnotics. The “here we meet,” stirring is especially inviting, showing shades of Leonard Cohen in the introspective vocal tone — and continuing the themes apparent in “Brief Encounters,” specifically the power of companionship, even if temporary, in a tumult-filled journey through life.
Deriving its title from a legendary gay club in Berlin, “Ficken 3000” engrosses in its portrayal of a relationship’s ups-and-downs — from the heat of meeting and the night beyond, into doubts regarding the future. “Still there was a connection,” the vocals admit understated keys and pit-pattering percussion, following sporadic hot-and-cold natures of an initial connection. “A quiet tenderness holding us briefly,” furthers a sense of blissful mutual adoration, perhaps momentary though lovely all the same.
Dahl is also joined by a number of talented musicians on the release — including avant-jazz guitarists Lily Maase (Tyshawn Sorey) and Lars Bech Pilgaard, extreme metal bassist Leah Levinson (Agriculture), experimental drummer/improviser Tim Feeney, and sound artist/songwriter Pluto Bell. The concluding tracks on the album continue to showcase enveloping songwriting, from the plucky dreaminess of “Gorilla” to the nocturnal coming-to-terms folk appeal within “Losing You.” Moth/Flame enthralls in its emotively intimate lyricism and approachably melodic instrumentation.
