Aural Fix – Gus Dapperton

Looking for an opportunity to dance away all your woes? Put on your dancin’ boots, dress to the nines, and check out Gus Dapperton at the Wonder Ballroom November 1st. Gus Dapperton’s deeply personal lyrics shine atop dynamic instrumentation, which he plays, records, and arranges himself. Though the lyrics are thematically raw, the music will put bounce in your step and beg you to groove along. The instrumentation, reminiscent of 80s and 90s pop and new wave, features soft acoustic guitar layered with plunky keys and synth. Bringing forth musical memories from childhood with contemporary awareness surrounding mental health, Gus Dapperton’s highly danceable and relatable music is worth checking out.

His latest release, Orca, focuses on issues of mental health through anxious musings on death, and the deeply rooted, dark, and parasitic nature of depression. In the album’s first track “Bottle Opener,” Dapperton sings “I don’t know if I’ll last until tomorrow/it’s such an arduous task to always bottle it up,” setting a powerfully personal and profoundly relatable tone for the album. The song “Post Humorous” starts off with soft vocals, gentle guitar, and dreamy synth before slowly building to an upbeat, catchy chorus, maintaining the danceable beat throughout the rest of the song, and illustrating Dapperton’s ability to create deeply emotive and simultaneously uplifting songs through dynamic song structure, harmonies, and spirited vocals.

Get tickets here for Gus Dapperton at the Wonder Ballroom on Monday, November 1st