Spotlight: Dead Emerson Elevates Malaise Into Bombast With New Single “American Dreaming”
☆ BY Jonah Nink ☆
Photo by Pierce Pyrzenski
THE QUINTESSENTIAL PANDEMIC-ERA ANTHEM - Dead Emerson’s latest single “American Dreaming,” is the track you’ve been craving. East coast-based Dean Emerson, better known by his stage name Dead Emerson, has lyrics that tackle themes of malaise, frustration and that doomed feeling that comes from an extended period spent within an inescapable system. Problem is, the song was written in January of 2020.
“I was in a rough spot trying to keep my job at the restaurant I worked at. We were pretty short staffed and I think I worked about 9 or 10 days straight.”
Despite the amount of work he was putting in, Emerson’s hours were cut in a way that prevented him from receiving full time benefits or overtime. It’s a story that thousands across the country can relate to, even in the final weeks before the pandemic.
“It was that weird pre-pandemic time,” said Emerson. “It felt like Sysyphus, the Greek character who pushes the boulder up the hill… I had this weird feeling that there was something around the corner that would make everything come crashing down.”
Hearing this story contextualizes the track as not about when cycles break, but rather the moment right before they do so; those fleeting final seconds of stability before a seismic shift. Soft and restrained, the opening lines are sung in a way that suggests someone going through the motions. The first few lyrics are concerned with staying in bed, coffee and cigarettes; all things designed to help us endure the day. The instrumental underneath however still has enough energy to foreshadow the impending entropy.
The track escalates from there, reaching an apex of guitars, drums, synths and vocals that dabble in screamo. It’s a glorious outro to an overall excellent track. The track’s ferocity is also a departure from some of Emerson’s earlier tracks like “Siddharth” and “24,” which put more emphasis on alternative pop-rock and electronic grooves.
“I grew up on Calvin and Hobbes and Talking Heads. Bill Waterson, who did Calvin and Hobbes, often slips in these subtle critiques of poster modern society that I didn’t really understand until high school,” said Emerson. “That’s really seeped into my own view of narrative and storytelling.”
Along with being released on its own as a single, “American Dreaming” is set to be released on Dead Emerson’s debut 6 song EP ...and Action!”, out November 18th. The songs were recorded in the early months of the pandemic. At that time Emerson’s process was originally focused on building the instrumental, with vocals and lyrics coming in afterward, a process common in the alternative hip-hop crossover space where he got his start. The process of writing “American Dreaming” however was new territory for Emerson, who took the opposite approach and built the song around a lyrical idea.
“I am writing new songs and I’m starting from just a guitar,” said Emerson. “I’ve really tried to orient my songwriting process more towards lyrics and structure now as opposed to making a cool instrumental and trying to warp lyrics around it.”
After a series of delays and changes in management, Emerson finally got the chance to give listeners a taste of the EP with the release of the single “Eleventh Hour” earlier this year. Emerson also plans to make his project’s live debut with a series of shows along the east coast slated for early November. He’ll be backed by a full band of friends and frequent collaborators.
“I put out my first single in late October of 2019,” said Emerson. “We filmed our first music video three days before the lockdown in March. There is something about the energy and just the excitement to be back.”
To Emerson, “American Dreaming’s” divergence from the rest of his material and singular focus on a specific moment in time are what makes the track so special.
“[American Dreaming] is not necessarily indicative of the future direction of the project,” said Emerson. “That being said, there’s something to be said about art and music to exist within the space that it was created.”
“I think what’s interesting about where we are now is that people are starting to unionize and organize, and they’re starting to take a stand against past aggressions from companies, from politicians,” said Emerson. “The malaise and the lack of desire to do anything about it comes from the fact that we’re comfortable.”
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