If you’re trying to categorize the type of weird that Dorian Domi’s debut full length as Televangelist falls under, TOBACCO might be a good reference point—Daydream Abraxas is a record full of glitched-out left turns that aren’t impossible to rap over (Kool Keith hops on the album standout “Leland Palmer,” taking the place of someone like Aesop Rock in Tom Fec’s music). Yet the dense, eerie soundscape Domi creates is worlds apart from the impish instrumentals of that project, covering ground that’s generally darker in both texture and subject matter. Abraxas’s album cover, for example, incorporates imagery from the Challenger disaster while a couple of Bosch figures look on.
While Kool Keith’s easygoing flow stands out against the frantic background sounds, the Twin Peaks reference of the song’s title adds another layer of unease to the project while shining a light on the core themes of mental illness, trauma, psychosis, and the dual personalities these afflictions can cause a person to take on. The more explicit story Abraxas follows is that of the Challenger, with audio samples of news coverage of the disaster providing most of the rest of the spoken-word accompaniment for the piece, and which similarly tends to play against instrumentals that pull the tracks’ balance in the direction of beauty and astrological wonder. “Daydream Abraxas is a conglomeration of depression, mania, and beauty,” Domi tells us. “I was confined to my studio for two years patiently digging for the final product.”
With the record officially dropping this Friday, you can listen to an early stream of the full LP below. You can also pre-order the digital album here.
