Davenport Rex - Deux

​Davenport Rex

​Deux
self-released; 2017

​3.9 out of 5

By Matt Jensen

Jim Murphy and Dave Gillespie met in jazz band in college. They quickly developed a friendship and formed Davenport Rex. Last October they released their second album entitled Deux. There wasn’t much jazz on the album but instead it felt more firmly grounded in progressive rock.

The band gets going with “Shine” which was a catchy, well delivered song. It did veer towards a more traditional rock sound in my opinion. In fact there was an ’80s flavor somewhere in there that was hard to pinpoint between the production aesthetics and vocal delivery.

Up next is “This Old House.” I really liked this song because of the dynamics and the different places it went. It started with an acoustic guitar progression and vocals before dematerializing in ambience before the drums, bass and organ are introduced. Speaking of that ’80s influence I was definitely reminded of that on the chorus and on the verse with Pink Floyd-esque guitar solos. There's no doubt it was an ambitious song.

“Someday” was a highlight for me. The song was emotionally resonant and more melancholy and thought provoking. I also thought the vocals really shined here. Great stuff.

“Lullaby” has a reflective, coming of age type quality to it which was enjoyable. I think some of the more progressive elements of the music comes out in “Bonfires.” It’s around the three-minute mark where the band gets experimental by implementing digital sounding orchestral elements before working their way to a rocking chorus.

As the album progress there was a lot to appreciate, “I’m Waiting,” “So Sorry” and “Simple Love” were the other standouts.

​Deux was a really good album overall. The songs were dense  and obviously meticulously created. On top of that the album had a good flow with ten tracks and didn’t feel like it went on too long.

official website

Tweet