The process of taking a song from a “demo” to a “finished” track is puzzling to me. I’m not a musician, so maybe there is some aspect of it that I am missing out on, but when I hear a b-side or demo collection I inevitably find myself scratching my head over why tracks were shelved. This is, of course, the case here, where what is advertised as a series of demos or forgotten tracks feels as fleshed out and solid as a full-fledged album.
I enjoy this collection more than either Dalhous album and the reason is simple: sonic diversity. Maybe it was an attempt to stay stylistically and thematically focused but I have a hard time separating the tracks on those albums; they all kind of lump together into a mass of gently floating electronics. With this cassette collection of demos there is an adventurousness and a willingness to experiment that seems (intentionally or not) bred out of other Dalhous releases. It makes you wonder why these pieces were rejected from release on either album or EP in the first place; what about the songs here made the creators say “naw, let’s shelve that one.” Because maybe they were wrong.