Every Moment, Everything You Need

During the COVID-19 global pandemic, musics ability to provide refuge was more vital than ever, and it was something Desertas Matthew Doty both needed and provided. A nurse, Doty worked grueling shifts on the pandemics frontlines, then wrote and recorded what became Every Moment, Everything You Need in the studio he set up in his familys two-bedroom apartment. However, his cramped creative quarters arent apparent on Desertas second album; if anything, it sounds even bigger than his debut Black Aura My Sun. To maximize the albums scope, Doty brought in two experts of epic sonics: Chris Coady engineered and co-produced Every Moment, Everything You Need, while Dave Fridmann mixed it (surprisingly, this is the first time the pair have worked on the same project). The layered depth of the albums sound is notable on tracks as different as the triumphant opener "Lost in the Weight," which echoes Mogwai and Slowdive in its soft-focus majesty, and "Im So Tired," which represents the synth pop side of Desertas music with deceptively lively beats and keyboard motifs that push its reassuring melody forward. Drummer James McAlister also helps Every Moment, Everything You Need live up to the immediacy of its title on "A World Without," where his driving rhythms meld with the electronic percussion, synths, and guitars perfectly. Another guest, Mice Parades Caroline Lufkin, contributes vaporous vocals to "Where Did You Go?," one of many times that the record gets lost in shoegaze bliss. Dotys own voice is much more prominent than it was on Black Aura My Sun, and so is the emotion on "Far from Over," which moves from brooding to urgent in a way that reflects the high-stakes feeling of the album as a whole. Though there are more standout moments like this and the tone-bent riff paradise of "Its All a Memory" than there were on Dotys debut album, Every Moment, Everything You Need always flows seamlessly, offering a more confident and sophisticated version of Desertas sound along the way. ~ Heather Phares