Dungeonesse

Dungeonesse, the pop project of Jenn Wasner (Wye Oak, Flock of Dimes) and Jon Ehrens (White Life), will release its self-titled debut album May 14, 2013 on Secretly Canadian.

“Shucks,” which premiered with Pitchfork, is an apt lead-off for the album, a funk-influenced track full of bass that Wasner’s voice surfs like a wave. The band’s first single and video (also released as a standalone 12″), “Drive You Crazy,” premiered with The FADER. On it, Wasner’s Ciara-like breathy coo comes to the fore over Ehrens’ gigantic production – Top 40 with a connoisseur’s touch. Wasner & Ehrens know we want to party and the songs on Dungeonesse are the perfect soundtrack: bangers (“Cadillac,” “Drive You Crazy”), slow jams (“Nightlight,” “Wake Me Up”), synthy house (“Private Party”), and carefully crafted beats that make you wanna.

Born of a mutual admiration for Top 40 and R&B and the mechanics of what makes a hit song, the Baltimore natives and longtime friends Wasner & Ehrens began putting jams together remotely. Ehrens would send tracks from LA to Wasner on tour, and they’d bounce ideas back and forth. The charming strength of the resulting Dungeonesse rests in the dichotomy formed by of a bold re-introduction of the beautiful imperfections of the human voice into a landscape of what is an increasingly mechanized process of music making. The fun resides in the listen.