Album - After Dusk

Released On July 1st 2024

Listen on bandcamp here

After the long, meticulous journey of Sonic Electric Karma Train, which took 18 months to complete, I wanted to challenge myself to create something faster, more human, and more lo-fi. After Dusk was the result - an album born of intuition, immediacy, and introspection. I set out to produce the entire record in just two months, focusing less on perfection and more on emotional resonance.

The album's sonic palette is a deliberate departure from the high-gloss world of synthwave. It's rougher around the edges, warmer, and more organic. I fell in love with the sound of Wurlitzer and Rhodes pianos, and I leaned into them hard. I also began exploring Christian Henson's Crow Hill Company and used his haunting Dot Allison plugin on select tracks. While synths still anchor the music, this record experiments with hardware instruments like the Dreadbox Erebus, Hades, and Nymphes, as well as the Moog Mother 32 and Yamaha CP. Ultimately, though, it wasn't about the gear - it was about creating something thoughtful, intimate, and real.

The album art shows a man sitting by candlelight at dusk, reflecting on life. That's exactly what this album aims to do: hold space for reflection, for quiet thought, and for whatever comes after the rush of the day.

Track Highlights

Night Song

The album opens with snarling rhythm: heavy organic drums, a distorted electric bass, and a gritty Wurlitzer piano from Soniccouture’s “Broken Wurli” (House of the Witch patch). It’s angry and alive - but then Dot Allison’s voice glides in, delicate and distant, softening the edges. A prepared piano joins the groove, and a deep saw motif builds the tension. It feels like a band playing out in a moonlit garden - fierce, haunted, and oddly beautiful.

Through The Smoke

Heavy organic drums and a fuzzy, stoned 70s-style bass set the pulse, with shimmering Diva patches - plucks, bells, and intertwining leads - dance above. Midway through, a voice invites you inward: “Through the flame and through the smoke. Look into your mind's eye.” Then the warning: “Something waits for you there. Look if you dare.” It’s a psychedelic mirror held to the soul - daring you to confront what lies beneath the surface.

A Storm Is Coming

The most intricate track on the album - and the first I wrote. It begins with organic drums and two basses: a sharp analog pluck and a dark Reese that swirls below. Ethereal melodies drift in from Bronte and Augmented Voices, while a male voice calmly warns: “Oh there’s storm clouds gathering, it’s going to be a blustery one.” A young girl’s voice echoes in response: “I hope I get home before the storm.”

Midway through, a melancholic synth piano grounds the piece in memory, followed by a dramatic choir swell - bass, soprano, alto - as the storm looms closer. Then the thunder hits. Rain crashes down over a pulsing synth line. The choir returns, now fuller, more urgent. It ends with rolling thunder and a slow fade.

This isn’t just about weather. The storm is metaphor. I felt we were heading toward collapse - ignoring what matters while danger gathered on the horizon. The track captures that sense of foreboding, of beauty and fear intertwined, of a world just before impact.

Interplay

Set in the quiet hours after dusk, Interplay unfolds like a conversation between souls. It opens with an organic kick and a metallic Moog Mariana bass, establishing a grounded, pulsing rhythm. As the track evolves, a Wurlitzer piano recorded from the Yamaha CP gently counters the lush tones of the Dreadbox Nymphes, their melodies weaving together like strands of thought in deep reflection. A solitary snare joins the rhythm, with cymbals punctuating emotional beats, giving the piece a loose yet heavy human presence. It’s a raw and resonant moment - organic, open, and alive with quiet connection.

Meow Meow

Despite the title, this track isn’t about cats - though it is playful. It’s anchored by a 60s-style drum groove and a walking Moog Mother-32 bassline, laying down a nostalgic rhythm that instantly evokes the vibe of a vintage TV dance show. The real hook comes from a squelchy Dreadbox Erebus patch that chirps a phrase resembling “Meow Meow” - hence the name. Handclaps orbit from left to right, enhancing the sense of movement and vintage flair. East West Hollywood backup singers add soulful “oohs,” building toward a dramatic melodic counterpoint against the synth and bass. The result is a track that fuses squelchy analog synth work with 60s soul swagger - miniskirts, bobs, go-go boots and all.

Introspection

This piece begins in total stillness - no drums, no bass, just two Yamaha CP electric pianos: a Wurli panned left carrying the melody, and a Rhodes panned right grounding the chords. Their gentle conversation sets a mood of quiet reflection. At 1:44, a wistful melody enters via a Retrocorda organ patch dead center in the stereo field, imbuing the track with vintage charm. The arrangement swells further at 2:44 when a soft UVI Augmented Orchestra ensemble emerges, subtle yet emotionally resonant. Finally, at 3:23, a lo-fi kick from LoFi Panda (Clark Audio) anchors the rhythm, joined by delicate cymbal and triangle hits - including a closing triangle chime reminiscent of a best man's toast.

It’s a nostalgic, human piece inviting introspection.

Sunshine And Raindrops

A simple, soulful groove. A Rhodes piano dances like falling rain - light, scattered, melodic. C.C. White (East West Voices of Soul) takes the lead with wordless vocalizations, her voice pure soul, backed by lush East West Hollywood singers. A slapping upright bass adds bounce and human texture, locking in with a smooth modern R&B drum kit. A clarinet from Arturia’s Augmented Woodwinds weaves in and out, echoing the vocal tone with warmth and breath.

The piece lives in contrast: melancholy and joy, clouds and light. A moment of rain under sunshine - and somehow, it all grooves.

Incantation

A ritual in rhythm. A Euclid bass from Analog Lab Pro pulses with hypnotic regularity beneath a stripped-back kick and snare groove. A stereo-spanning Diva arp casts a sonic spell, its shimmering motion evoking ancient rites reimagined through circuitry. Dreadbox Erebus, squelchy and unruly, leads the conjuring with erratic, expressive phrases, while Nymphes chimes in like a spectral voice - subtle, precise, deliberate. Crashing cymbals mark the shifting of energies, each section like a new stanza in the spell.

The whole piece feels like a ceremony - part dance, part invocation - unfolding in a twilight ritual of synth and soul.

Distant Memories

A dusty, tape-soaked piano takes center stage - its every keystroke echoing like a memory just out of reach. Wrapped in a ghostly halo of wide synth ambiance, the piano drifts through a fog of nostalgia. Below it, an upright bass delivers slow, deliberate notes in gentle counterpoint, grounding the track like an old photograph that still carries weight. A simple shaker enters now and then, gently nudging the groove forward, like time passing unnoticed. Distant Memories evokes a bittersweet longing - a quiet remembrance of moments that shaped us, softened by time but never forgotten.

The Clock Ticks

A panning Diva arp swings from left to right like the pendulum of time itself, ticking steadily in the background. An upright slapped bass carves out the groove with earthy precision, while a bubbling Mother 32 patch - with its filter thrown wide open - spews a reverb-drenched melody into the space. The result is an energetic yet wistful meditation on the unstoppable passage of time. Every element feels suspended between urgency and nostalgia, reminding us that time never pauses, and the moment is already gone.

Rainy Afternoon

Written on a rare rainy Sunday in Calgary - June 2024 - this track captures the soft introspection of a day spent indoors. It opens with gentle rain foley, setting the mood before a tape-soaked, dusty upright piano enters, its notes full of wear and warmth. Dot Allison’s reverb-laden high vocal melody floats wistfully above, in delicate counterpoint to the piano. The rain continues throughout, low in the mix, adding a persistent texture of nostalgia. The piece feels like sitting quietly by a window, watching raindrops trail down the glass - unhurried, reflective, and deeply human.

Final Thoughts

Each of these tracks is a moment captured after dusk, when the world quiets and the soul listens. Thanks for taking the time to experience them with me.