Upstate Tape #1 by Daygraves (Review)

The opening moments of “Ghost” suggest that Daygraves’ Travis Estes has exchanged his blackgaze for lo-fi singer/songwriter material à la Songs: Ohia or Bonnie “Prince” Billy. Hence the acoustic guitar, tape hiss, low-key vocals, and reflective lyrics (“Don’t know how I got here/Don’t know what happens next/I’m just broken and bored with it”). In reality, he’s just expanded his sonic palette, incorporating those aforementioned elements alongside the harrowing shrieks and brutal riffs that were employed to such great effect on 2021’s excellent Imperishable EP.

The second song, “Drag the Lake,” begins in the more “traditional” Daygraves style. But even here, the various vocal styles and effects, dungeon synth melodies, choral chants, and honest-to-goodness guitar soloing make it obvious that Estes feels absolutely zero compunction to remain within the confines of blackgaze.

These initial songs in Daygraves’ Upstate Tape series are clearly experiments, and even after multiple listens, I’m still puzzling my way through how well everything fits together. “Drag the Lake,” in particular, might cause some whiplash as Estes bounces around between sounds and styles. At the same time, his multi-faceted songwriting and production is never not intriguing as I sit and listen and try to comprehend the method to his madness. (Plus, I really love those solos.)

In an Instagram post accompanying Upstate Tape #1’s release, Estes announced his plans to release more Upstate Tape material over the coming months. I suspect he’ll have even more surprises in store for us listeners, and I, for one, can’t wait to hear them.