Emery Dobyns - Improvs

A Closer Listen

Without wishing to generalise, reviewers prefer covering debut albums. Introducing a fresh artist’s music to a new group of potential followers provides a mild fillip for the writer who can say that they have been on board from the start. More importantly, the coverage is beneficial for the musician, particularly in a crowded field where it is easy to be overlooked. There’s a lot of music released and a debut release from an unfamiliar name on a low-profile label needs a boost – so we do what we can. The artist gets a positive review, and the writer feels like they have helped in a small way.

The other reason we like debut albums is that we don’t have to research seventeen previous albums by an artist to have something to compare it to. Obviously, we’re not obliged to delve into back catalogues – sometimes it’s good to let the music stand on its own merits – but it often helps. There’s no such issue with Emery Dobyns and his debut because he only has 125 credits on Discogs. Wait… what?

Improvs is Dobyns’ first album, but he’s racked up over two decades on the other side of the mixing desk, producing and engineering for multiple artists from Mary J Blige, through Noah And The Whale to Better Than Ezra. So far, so mainstream. But then he’s also mixed Battles, Antony And The Johnsons and more recently Hammock. It’s the latter connection that has led to Dobyns’ debut appearing on Hammock’s record label – and they provide a remix of “Of Promises” to close out the album.

As the name suggests, this is an album that grew out of improvisations; Dobyns challenged himself to write and record a piece of music every day in January 2022. Given his background, it’s no surprise that the result sounds great; these aren’t just sketches but fully realised works with full-sounding arrangements. The tracks are brief glimpses into whatever he was feeling that day, communicating directly to the keyboard and then given a lush arrangement with whatever tools he had available. There’s a palpable feeling of icy crystals, frozen branches and a low midwinter sun in many of the tracks, I suspect stemming from the time of year the pieces were made. That’s balanced by some of the warmer tracks that feel inspired by family life; given the self-imposed constraints on making Improvs then it makes sense for Dobyns to draw on the environment and people around him.

Dobyns recorded 31 tracks in January, around half of which made it onto the album; it’s a strong and cohesive selection that flows beautifully from start to finish. There’s a lightness in the music, a sense of joy in the creation that is present throughout. The field recordings used in “Woodswalk”, the rolling piano of “Rotors” and the telephonic pulse of “On Hold For A Day” may give us highlights, as do the original and remixed versions of “Of Promises”, but it’s not really a record that you’d want to pick and choose tracks. It took Emery Dobyns twenty years in the music industry to record his debut album and over 3 years after that to unveil it to the public; this is not music to rush. (Jeremy Bye)