Random Desire
Though *Random Desire* is billed as his first solo album (excluding 2005’s rarities collection *Amber Headlights*), Greg Dulli has more than proven his songwriting chops for over 30 years with his two main projects The Afghan Whigs and The Twilight Singers. The term “solo\" is often thrown around for any artist who wants to make a statement, but he makes sure to earn that distinction: Dulli recorded every part of the album, from the piano lines to the drum and bass riffs, combining all those elements over his anguished lyrical wit. “Carry me back, now I am your sin/Singing the song as I touch your skin,” he yearns on \"Marry Me,” conveying brooding sentiments with his soulful tenor. Dulli aims high on “Sempre” and “The Tide,” blending surging guitars and dramatic piano parts that build into explosive finishes. “When does it end?/Does the feeling come again?” he sings on “Slow Pan,” letting his guard down with a harp-led ballad which closes the album on a bittersweet note.
The Afghan Whigs leader's debut solo album balances guitar-slashing catharsis with candelabra-lit elegance, taking inspired tangents from his signature nocturnal sensibility without departing from it entirely.
After 30 years, eight Afghan Whigs records and five more from Twilight Singers, it's odd to think that Greg Dulli is just now releasing his...
Random Desire by Greg Dulli, album review by Adam Fink. The Afghan Whigs frontman's debut solo LP comes out on February 21, via Royal Cream/BMG