"Unfold" shifts and then shifts again and again, the sideways post rock psychedelia of dielines

AP Track Review

We listen to music for many reasons. Sometimes we need a diversion from all the muck in our lives. Sometimes we need a soundtrack. Sometimes we need to be transported away. Sometimes we need to be inspired. On the evocative track Unfold by Silver Lake, California's dielines we get musical sustenance to satisfy all those reasons. The band, centered around singer-songwriter, guitarist Daniel Berkman with longtime collaborator Trevor O'Neill on guitar/additional vox, stir many flavors in their indie alternative alchemy. Unfold opens with Berkman's retropective vocals and, soon, is wrapped by a complex tone shifting array of proggy rock sounds. Swelling sonic drones blending with harmonious vox feels so dreamy but there are sideways sounds too that show tinges of avant garde, experimental turns inside this post rock psychedelia. There are sparse breaks too with big danceable eruptions of sound and whirling bass and drums. What an experience. 

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Robb Donker  




THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:

dielines is a Silver Lake, CA based band lead by singer/songwriter/guitarist Daniel Berkman along with longtime creative collaborator Trevor O’Neill (guitar/vocals), that blends elements of psych folk, dream pop, and post-rock. Known for intricately finger-picked guitars, atmospheric strings and winding harmonies, dielines weave intimate, hypnotic musical textures to get lost in.

Forming in 2017, dielines released their debut EP, Deep Breaths, in December 2018. Berkman wrote the majority of songs while in the process of moving back to Los Angeles from a stint in Portland, OR following his graduation from UCLA Design School for Graphic Design. The tracks remained unrecorded while his focus shifted to the corporate world and other musical projects. It wasn’t until he decided to quit full-time agency life in 2017 to focus on music that he finally went home to Oakland to record the EP with Richmond, CA based artist Aki Ehara (songwriter/bassist/producer for The Seshen, Maha Wam). The four song EP was featured in tastemaker publications like Culture Collide, LA Record, Buzzbands.la and more.