Gold Dime – No More Blue Skies LP No Gold

Cinematic—is there a better word to describe Andrya Ambro’s songwriting? On No More Blue Skies, her third record as Gold Dime, the Queens-based composer’s songs are a widescreen, fiercely intense, hair standing up on the back of your neck kind of art rock. These songs are not for the faint of heart. Not pretty but beautiful, rigorous. Her drums are angular, darting off in unexpected directions. The guitars tremble and shake. When Ambro opens her mouth up to sing, her vocals are a call to arms. Dance, if you dare.

A galvanizing record of bleak noir textures, No More Blue Skies is the closest Ambro’s gotten to capturing the soundscape that lives inside of her head to date. It is also the record that most closely captures the live show experience that is so essential to Ambro’s practice as an artist. Ambro’s background is as a drummer, she’s classically trained, studied jazz in school and went deep into West African percussion. Through Gold Dime, her inclinations as a drummer foreground the tapestries that are her songs. These songs are anchored in truly singular rhythms, percussion driven moments of songwriting that constantly subvert your expectations. Her voice acts as her fifth limb; both informing and interacting with the drums. On No More Blue Skies, she plays all the drums, sings, produces the samples and is at the helm of most of the record’s compositions. As a band, Gold Dime is a rotating ensemble, featuring Ambro’s talented friends that she’s connected with through the New York music scene for nearly two decades. All compositions exist somewhere in the magical realm of Diamanda Galas meets Laurie Anderson fronting a more menacing CAN, only the guitars are strikingly emotive like Les Rallizes Denudes.

To quote Brian Chase of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Andrya has a distinct knack for synthesizing punk’s primitive energy, an avant-garde sensibility and catchy vocal lines.” The record was produced entirely by Ambro, and mixed alongside longtime collaborator Nicolas Vernhes. Ambro’s former Talk Normal bandmate and current Kim Gordon guitarist Sarah Register mastered the album. The result is Gold Dime in its absolute highest resolution and an album that demands your full attention, at all times.