The fourth in a series of recordings produced in the punk-method by Dave Little and Salim Nourallah at Pleasantry Lane in Dallas features 10 brand new tracks of Dave brilliance. The punk-method relies almost entirely on the astute skills and studio mastery of crack musicians to achieve quick, efficient tracking without sacrificing quality. To assist them in this challenge, Dave and Salim invited Joe Reyes (Buttercup), Chad Stockslager (King Bucks) and Scott McPherson to round out the sessions and work their individual magic on this magical set of tunes. 

Striking a decidedly more solemn tone this time around, Salim and Dave whittled this collection from an initial wellspring of around 30 songs. The prolific songwriter focuses many of these tunes around his new-found fingerpicking style, framing and punctuating his often dark observations on life, love and growing older. Arrangements are classically Dave, sparse and economical in both lyric and structure, with signature Salim-isms woven throughout in the form of minimalist washes, subtle percussives and hypnotic Eastern melodic accents. The spectrum of flavors is what you've come to expect from Dave, musically and in content; straddling the line between hope and despair, always delivering the ironic or humorous wordplay. 

Grey Expectations is Dave's strongest cohesive set to date, with stand out tracks including Casket Fries, Loosen the Reins, Guilty Birds, Blood and You Will I Promise You Will. 

The inside dope is Dave is already tracking the follow-up to this wonderful and intriguing set.

01 Square One

02 Casket fries

03 Terrified

04 Loosen the reins

05 Guilty birds

06 Blood

07 Spots to stripes

08 My Marlene

09 Picnic

10 You will, I promise

davelittle