Tyson Dickert is a well-known to us as a purveyor of post rock, yet his latest album, Endless, manages to be full of surprises.
By Graeme Smith
For one, it’s lyric focussed. While we’ve got used to him creating cosmic soundscapes, Endless layers on poetic verse to help build its atmospheric picture. The vocals are subtle, often barely comprehensible below the heavy rock riffs, but they reward the careful listener with their imagery and epic narratives.
For all its expansiveness, the album is rooted in an emotional journey. Dickert created the album over seven months with a mission to provide a counterpoint to quickly generated AI slop, inviting the listener on a deliberately slow-building journey that promotes human connection.
He certainly delivers on this mission, leaning into classic genres and reinventing them of a digital age. The album takes the listener on an intentional, well-structured, and emotionally resonant voyage with blissful highs, attention-grabbing lows, and fizzy middles.
In this album, Dickert also fully pushes his rock chops, giving us a bold, cinematic sound that borders on indie in the early moments. The first couple of tracks set up the adventure of Upon The Edge of Dawn nicely. It’s an early highlight.
Waking From A Fever Dream is a swaggering classic rock moment. Remember Who We Are is stirringly anthemic. Kindred Hearts has some delicious noodles. Hollow Sun is a gigantic, rumbling wonder that proves another fuzzy highlight before Dissolution proves an unexpectedly lowkey close, pairing hypnotic piano with snatches of percussion.
Electric guitar sits as a central feature to the compositions, providing driving riffs that are joined by more subtle instrumental layers. There’s a hidden complexity to it all, demanding multiple listens to pick everything out. What isn’t hidden is the album’s overall emotional impact which hits hard right from the off and holds the attention, rousing and introspective in equal measure.
As a follow-up to Beneath the Stars, We Dream of Tomorrow and An Endless Voyage on the Astral Sea, Endless doesn’t disappoint. Thematically, it continues in the same vein while expanding and refining Dickert’s sound, enhancing it with a more immediate sense of storytelling. It’s an album to get lost in and feels like his most accomplished work to date.
You can keep up to date with Tyson Dickert by following him on Instagram, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music.
Endless is out now, and you can listen to it below.