live: white hinterland

I first stumbled across Casey Dienel on Hush Records’ website in late 2006 and, on a whim, bought her debut record Wind-Up Canary, which quickly became my go-to record for the weird time between fall and winter. It’s smart, unabashed piano-pop, sort of in the same vein as, say, Regina Spektor. Dienel signed with Dead Oceans and in 2008 released Phylactery Factory under the name White Hinterland. It’s a darker outfit with more instrumentation and a little less pop, but still focused largely on Dienel’s piano and was very much her project.

Since then, Dienel has found a full-fledged collaborator, Shawn Creeden, and this year’s release Kairos is a complete 180 from any of her past efforts. It’s a dance record: electronic, sexy, and laced with heavy R&B influences, and Dienel’s bright piano is totally hidden (there are plenty of synths, though). Needless to say, I was super curious to see how this would translate live.

Last Friday, the duo opened for DOSH at Mercury Lounge, where Dienel got frustrated with some sound problems, but they did what they could. The Kairos tracks sounded great live — in low stage lighting and a few candles, Creeden twisted knobs and dials on a table full of I’m not really sure what, to be completely honest. Dienel switched between piano (with a couple of effect and looping pedals) and ukulele. In “Moon Jam” she sang, “I am afraid of so many things/ But I do not fear the future,” which certainly applies to her change in musical direction. Leaving behind all traces of her past as a piano-based singer/songwriter, she looped her vocals; oohs and ahhs, as well as panting/gasping noises, and sang over that. It was a short set that might have fared better with a few more organic touches (maybe more ukulele?), but it ended on a high note, with a cover of Justin Timberlake‘s “My Love.”