Gus Dapperton – Where Pretty Polly People Go To Read review

Secret Meeting score: 76

by Philip Moss

Judging by Gus Dapperton’s striking look, one might be mistaken for thinking that the 22 year old New Yorker music could be a little gimmicky. But this is a young songwriter who deserves to be taken seriously.

Opener, Verdagris, has a strut worthy of Dapperton’s appearance – its grooving percussion underpins mournful synths and his luscious boyband vocal, which slips into a falsetto evocative of Delays’ singer, Greg Gilbert. World Class Cinema is propelled by double tracked vocals on one of the record’s most immediately hooky cuts. And although My Favourite Fish is a little slower, it is no less engaging. While single, Fill Me Up Anthem, is perhaps the best encapsulation of his bedroom dream pop blueprint, and has more than a smattering in common with Blood Orange’s eclectic masterpiece, Negro Swan.

Having risen to prominence through his appearance on the 13 Reasons Why soundtrack, Where Polly People Go To Read follows on where Of Lacking Spectacle left off – and his blurry blend of soft rock, indie pop and RnB certainly makes for an exciting listen. This debut suggests Dapperton is a star in the making – and his next move will certainly be an interesting one.

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