Oliver Thomas Johnson – the man who is Dorian Concept – has spent a long time perfecting his sound, and one listen to ‘The Nature Of Imitation’ confirms it to be time very well spent. Johnson is great at making a lot happen in a short space of time, and his music takes on a lot of different influences while sounding fresh to the core. There are joyful bursts of energy in tracks like ‘Angel Shark’ and ‘J Buyers’, where he frequently surprises with quick chord changes and syncopations, but on ‘A Mother’s Lament’ and the lovely intro to ‘Dishwater’ he shows that he can also make something slower and profound. The colourful orchestrations blend with his own voice, heard to great effect on ‘Promises’, while the rippling effects he gets for moments like the start of ‘You Give And Give’ are lovely. Because there is so much going on ‘The Nature Of Imitation’ is great to come back too, packed full of riffs and stimulating rhythms but never feeling like it is trying too hard or putting too much in. Put simply, Johnson is a force of musical energy, and he’s made an album that transmits that energy directly and immediately to the listener.
Ben Hogwood
4 out of 5
DORIAN CONCEPT – THE NATURE OF IMITATION – BRAINFEEDER
