Jersey-based alternative electronic singer-songwriter and producer Grapefruit Sound Lab, aka Robert Cotnoir, recently dropped a new track, “Dum Dum Gun,” from his forthcoming album, Eight Days Across America.
Sarah Naughton and Robert Cotnoir
Explaining the song’s genesis, Grapefruit Sound Lab shares, “The melody for ‘Dum Dum Gun’ came to me in a dream. It was an instant earworm that had to be dealt with. I was visualizing a medieval ‘puppet king’ being taken far too seriously by the subjects, sauntering by, only to be laughed at from behind. I also wanted, at some point, to compose something in this realm, so it seemed like I was being handed a celestial opportunity. This song is meant to bridge the divide and bring us together as friends and neighbors instead of dividing us, suspiciously as enemies.”
Influenced by medieval folk music, classical solfeggios, along with the crystalline purity of Sarah Naughton’s voice, “Dum Dum Gun” departs from Grapefruit Sound Lab’s customary propelling house rhythms and dense synths, taking on glowing folk flavors.
The song features the talents of Fung Chern Hwei (violin), Tomoko Akaboshi (violin), Ron Lawrence (viola), Tomas Ulrich (cello), and Tristan Marzeski (bodhrán, field drum), along with the musical gifts of Cotnoir and Naughton.
Cotnoir’s genius as a motion picture music editor has garnered numerous awards, while Naughton has performed at the Lincoln Center, Roundabout Theater, and Second Stage, as well as being half of the musical comedy duo Jake and Sarah Present.
“Dum Dum Gun” opens on finessed, low-slung percussion topped by graceful strings. When Naughton’s delicious voice enters, the lyrics assume a nursery-rhyme flow, clean and refreshingly charming. As the strings embellish the melody with teeter-tottering textures, both luminous and elegant, radiant harmonies blend with Naughton’s superb tones, infusing the lyrics with depth and dimension.
Gorgeously arranged and subtly alluring, “Dum Dum Gun” delivers a significant message about irrational gun violence on lustrous music.
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