Even if you don’t know Dominic Angelella by name there’s a chance you’ve come across his work. He’s one-half of Lithuania, but he’s spent time in Hop Along and MeWithoutYou, while also contributing to records by Kendrick Lamar and Tinashe. While he’s offered up music under various names over the years, he’s opted for simplicity this time around, going by “Dominic” and leaving all other baggage at the door. The A.V. Club is streaming “Savior” from Dominic’s debut Goodnight, Doggies., which sees Angelella sounding little like any of his other works. It’s a simple pop song that deals in vintage sounds and grand proclamations about the balance between good and evil. Of the song, Angelella says:
“Savior” was written last year while I was trying to put songs together for the next Lithuania LP. I had just re-read that book about the FLDS (Under The Banner Of Heaven by Jon Krakauer) and it kickstarted a long dormant obsession with ‘alternative religion’, more specifically the deeply fucked power dynamic between the people who dispense the dogma and people who choose to believe it. That was the jumping off point. I had also been listening to a couple super mean Leonard Cohen songs.
Pre-orders for Goodnight, Doggies. are available now.