Critically acclaimed filmmaker Dennis Hauck was writing songs long before he touched a camera, but he pivoted away from music as his career in film took off. It would be the death of his friend, cinematographer Haylna Hutchins, on the set of the Western film Rust, that reawakened the songwriter within him. He has since emerged a cinematic and poetic artist with a darkly romantic Americana sensibility somewhere between Charles Bukowski and Leonard Cohen.
In 2022, Hauck released his first single, the outlaw country tribute “Halyna Hutchins.” From there, he has recorded a set of songs in Nashville, and toured across the country, playing acoustic sets following repertory screenings of his 2015 film Too Late. Hauck is now releasing a series of singles, including “Girl From Cedar City” b/w “Four Rides.”
“After I wrote the song for Halyna, the old gears started turning again and more songs kept coming,” says the LA-based artist. “Made me wonder why I hadn’t been doing this all along. But I couldn’t have written these songs back then.”
At his core, Hauck is a storyteller that curates immersive worlds for his narratives. In addition to his film work and his songwriter output, Hauck is a short story writer and an essayist whose work has been featured in Chicago Quarterly Review and New England Review. However, he is best known for his film, Too Late, which starred Academy Award, Emmy Award, and Golden Globe nominee John Hawkes. The film was hailed as “a masterwork” by the Los Angeles Times, “a dazzling debut” by the Village Voice, and was a New York Times Critics’ Pick.
Hauck’s songs unfold like sonic film shorts, and his narratives flow like long-form poetry, teeming with evocative imagery and stylish phrases. He sings in a detached-cool, talk-sing style, and his compositions have a theatrical pacing with dynamic instrumental touches punctuating the drama of his stories. There is a literate highbrow/lowbrow flair to his lyrics, recalling The Beat writers, and songwriters such as Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Lou Reed, Jim Carroll, and Nick Cave.
Today, Glide is excited to offer an exclusive premiere of the new single, “Girl From Cedar City” and the b-side “Four Rides,” making for a darkly alluring double hitter. “Girl From Cedar City” carries a gothic Western Lee Hazlewood sound that is brimming with reverb-drenched low-register guitar riffs, winsome trumpets, percussive melodic touches, and the haunting wails of an opera singer. The lyrics are vivid in their narrative imagery as Hauck unveils a sprawling cinematic tale. In contrast, “Four Rides” is ethereal and eerie. Hauck unspools a lifespan narrative against lean accompaniment where the drums function as a dynamic counterpart, accentuating the narrative arc without supporting it by playing a steady beat. There is an intimacy to this tune that gives it a sparse power.
Dennis describes the inspiration behind the songs:
These are story songs. The words tell you what’s happening, but it’s the music that orients you. Sometimes disorients you. “Girl From Cedar City” is like stepping through a portal. It’s a landscape that looks a lot like earth, but it’s someplace different. You hear a trumpet moaning, bells chiming, timpani vibrating your brain, and a mezzosoprano calling you from the distance. You don’t know where you are anymore, or who.
With “Four Rides” we come back to earth. Back on solid ground, and there’s a storm you can’t run from. Paul DeFiglia bows the bass strings like thunder in the distance, then Aksel Coe hammers the floor tom and crashes the cymbals, and lightning strikes right where you’re standing. The sky lights up and you might see something you never noticed before. But it won’t last very long, and that’s assuming you survive the hit.
LISTEN:
