Tierra Nueva

As I sat down for the second time to listen to The Love Dimension’s new CD there is once again, little time and so much to get done. “How will I manage? “I think to myself. But excuses pushed away I place the headphones on with the decision to finish up some artwork while I’m letting the songs play away. Seemed harmless and possibly fruitful, and it was - but something strange happened this time; I was taken on a trip, a voyage into the far and beyond. I felt the layers and the textures, the tones of a youthful band without boundaries. Their vocals awash in a sea of light reverberation, the appearance of an occasional twang of a tremolo guitar splashing against the rocks as the tide moves inward over the footprints in the sand, a tide of another time. The Love Dimension deceitfully draws me in, thinking they are just a new band trying to sound like something they heard recently on an old vinyl LP they grabbed for a mere buck at the Goodwill – but they throw me a curve and I realize this is some pretty clever poetry and music!

They are good musicians indeed but it is Jimmy and Celeste’s vocals, which are the creamy filling in the Oreo. “ Bound to the Sound “ for example, starts with this 60s retro guitar rhythm and is followed by a killer almost Motown-ish big Fender Bass line with kicking drums as we hear Celeste belting out “ Let The Music Set Us Free “ it is reminiscent of another time and place where there were flowers everywhere, crude light shows and a strange herbal scent wafting upon the evening concert air. No this is not Jefferson Airplane (Starship) playing in the Fillmore Auditorium or a lounge tribute act trying to be Slick…sorry for the pun! It’s not nineteen sixty-eight, it’s twenty-twelve and there is a new movement in town – the new renaissance with a rebirth of creativity in the art of music.

I am, even after five some years reporting on the newest music in the world – pleasantly surprised to see and hear such fine artists as The Love Dimension creating their own journeys and forgoing the usual and the trendy, sometimes safe commercial releases. Groups like this do their own thing and follow no one. How refreshing! As I was thinking this was a groove underground pop record, the kids did it to me again with a sneak attack - Country style with their Hold On Or Let Go, complete with pedal steel guitar played by Eric Amerman. A great little ballad eerily reminds me of the late and mysterious Gram Parsons in one of his many beautiful duets with Emmy Lou Harris (worth investigating!) this is a very inviting and haunting track. Every song on this wonderful record is played well by Jesse Olswang, Nick Marcantonio, Devin Farney, Jimmy L. Dias, Celeste Obomsawin and Eric, mentioned previously. Each of the eleven songs has it’s own flavors but there is a common thread running through the whole CD; one of experimentation, opportunities taken advantage of and a sense of disregard for what is considered the safest route to stardom. We like that. We like it a lot! Produced and engineered by Sean Paulson and Eric Amerman, this is a groundbreaking record worthy of your best collection. Don’t forget the Remember.

by Bruce J Maier
Damn Good Tunes