Derek Dunn releases evocative, atmospheric solo album 'To Love and Leave America at the Same Time'

Derek Dunn releases rustic solo album Credit: Photo by Jimmy Schaus

From the avant-garde academics to the noise freaks, Orlando’s experimental music scene is abuzz right now. One of the most salient names in this churning hive is Derek Dunn, who’s often in the thick among leading names in the city’s free-music circles like Bongus, Aarons Home, Storage Music Unit and Thomas Milovac’s Quartet, among others. Now, however, he’s about to step out with a solo debut album.

On Sunday, Oct. 26, Dunn’s To Love and Leave America at the Same Time LP is released. Unlike the frenetic improv energy of some of his collaborative work above, this solo introduction is a study in serenity. It’s an expedition into the wilds of American primitive guitar, one where Dunn takes country music, strips it of all the folksy filigree and maps its ambient essence in noble detail.

Between the crystalline acoustic fingerwork, the lingering bends of pedal steel and acres of atmosphere, this 11-song collection occupies a hypnotic frequency that dances a translucent line between melody and drone. Even without any of the obvious country frill, the album evokes Western vistas and wide frontier expanses, like vignettes of a quiet American magnificence that teeters between memory and myth. It’s a work of guitar minimalism with a Jack Rose-esque balance of substance and ether.

The inspirations for Dunn’s album range from his recent travels out West to the pedal steel he acquired last year. But there are also some distinctly local influences at play here. “[Robbie Basho’s] Visions of the Country is an insane album Matthew Moyer recommended to me; it inspired a lot of this,” says Dunn. Also, “seeing Jonas van Den Bossche play acoustic sets helped me decide maybe people would listen to it if I did something similar but more in tune with what I’ve been into.”

Dunn has heralded his solo career with a vision quest in search of not so much the style but the soul of Americana. With To Love and Leave America at the Same Time, he’s tapped a rich, ancient vein and conjured a romantic American spirit that lives now more in lore than in real life. It’s a nice thought, and a gorgeous soundtrack.

To Love and Leave America at the Same Time drops Oct. 26 on Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp. It’ll also see limited cassette release on Orlando experimental label Cosmo Sonic Collective. The release show will be that very evening, where Dunn will perform alongside Tiger Beat, Van den Bossche and Thomas Milovac’s Lustre Trio (6 p.m. Sunday, Casselberry Arts Center, $15 donation).

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Derek Dunn releases evocative, atmospheric solo album ‘To Love and Leave America at the Same Time’

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