Love Spells is the debut album from Death Doula, a dusky Art-Rock band hailing from Portland, Oregon. The new album was recorded at Jackpot Studios by Adam Lee (Built to Spill, Sleater-Kinney) and mixed by Bob Cheek, (Deftones, Band of Horses). It’s being released as a digital download and via streaming platforms by Death Doula Records on September 20th.
Kerry Jones had a crush on his best friend. Kyle List didn’t mind, he asked her to come collaborate at his tiny home studio anyway. By the end of the night, they were in love and had created a demo of “Disembark,” which would be lead single from Love Spells. Three weeks later, he moved to Portland to live with her, with no plan beyond an intuition that the music would take them somewhere.
Fast forward two years later and they recruited the veteran rhythm section of Keith Vidal on bass (Marjorie Faire, Nyles Lannon) and Adam Kozie on drums (Pollens, Crystal Beth) and adopted the name “Death Doula.” The music they’ve created shows their shared love of artists like Can, Television, Jeff Buckley, The Cranberries, Deerhunter, Kate Bush, The Sundays and Deftones, while remaining altogether sonically new.
Today Glide is premiere Death Doula’s newest single “Dory Joins Alfred,” a swooning work of dreamy indie rock that contends with a dying grandmother and deep reflection on what a life well lived looks like from two generations away. Kerry Jones sings in a way that balances soulful pop with rocker cool, while the band conjures up moody atmospheric instrumentals behind her. The result is a song that is haunting and dark, yet manages to soar with its full sound and swelling energy.
Impossible to fully comprehend, my maternal grandmother was a young girl during the Great Depression, had three children and four grandchildren who adored her, and a loving husband of nearly 70 years who danced with her up until he died. Suffering from dementia for several years after Alfred died and slowly declining until Dory’s own death, I had years of thinking back on fond memories and wishing for the return of the Nana I used to know. So many in our generation are facing similar experiences with their elderly loved ones, as dementia becomes more commonplace. Where do they go, though their bodies remain? – Kerry Jones
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