Dorian Williams II, known professionally as Skateland, is an Austin-based singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist who is set to release the highly anticipated single and music video “Postcards!”
After moving from Las Vegas to pursue a degree at the University of Texas, the ingenuous and outstanding vibe of bedroom singer Skateland was born in the intimacy of his chamber, by experimenting with several instruments and writing songs on his own from an eclectic diversity of musical influences, he fuses melancholy lyricism and new wave instrumentation with pop manufacture methods to generate a sound that evokes a timeless line.
The video for “Postcards!” is all about natural places, a valley full of TV-headed dudes walking around, doing only God knows what but somehow taking control all over the situation and even got a nice lady all tied up, from head to toe, making fun of her, but at least they are delivering hypnotic dance moves along the way! Sometimes we just turn ourselves into the internet, social media, and even technology in a highly dangerous way. We consume content in an addictive way, completely losing control over ourselves, just a false belief or judgment about external reality. Denial!
Postcards! features dreamy soundscapes, layered breezy melodies, and a kaleidoscope of hazy synths for an intriguing listen. It’s an emotive, intimate, and reflective pop instrumental tune, from laid-back to easy-going, perfect to depict romance in a way, late night and contemplative moments, as well as inner self flashes in life. A perfect piece that truly represents the essence of his musical distinctiveness.
What is really cool about him is that he self-produced and recorded his debut EP New Wave Revival, which was shared in early 2023. The six-track collection has received much acclaim from the likes of NPR’s KUTX which proclaimed it to be “sensationally mellow cross-genre bops” and detailed that it “has the fuzzy charm of shoegaze but filtered through a pop lens.” He has already further performed four showcases at last year’s SXSW.
He stated “I take emotions or feelings that I’ve gathered from certain experiences and package them into a format that’s accessible to anyone who listens. I think that’s why I love writing and recording music in non-traditional places as opposed to a fancy studio, writing a guitar part on my porch, jotting down song lyrics at a bar or cafe, tracking vocals in my bedroom etc., it feels like returning to the scene of that major life event and there’s an emotional power in that!” – that’s the importance in the narrative, he implies, in the often-toxic comparison that occurs from being on the internet and social media all the time with no limits and conscience at all. We all have been there; we can relate to what we can find in “Postcards!.”
How much time do we spend on the Internet? Is it worth it? Having first-time access to the lives of everyone around you is a terrible thing if you really think about it because it’s the quickest way to become unhappy with your own life or situation. Lack of confidence, FOMO, depression, and even isolation are the common downsides of social media. Skateland always writes about his experiences, about what is familiar to him. His delivery in this track was smooth and very tuneful with out-of-this-world suggestions in his vocals. The easiest way to describe his sound would be soothing, calm, still, and tuneful songs.
He shares that “in theory, we should be able to celebrate each other’s achievements, but more often than not we end up feeling discontent, unhappy, and restless with our own lives, including our jobs, possessions, life progress, romantic status, our bodies, and even our families.“
But at the end of the day, he just hopes his music inspires people to do “the thing” whatever “the thing” is. Let’s delve into our own passions, feel motivated by our deepest desires, embrace them, and use them to lift ourselves up.
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