Track By Tracks: DIRTY SHIRT - Get Your Dose Now! (2022)

1. NEW BOY IN TOWN:

We got used to opening our albums (and live shows) with a traditional energetic instrumental song (as the traditional Romanian weddings), but on the new album, we chose to open the album with a more dramatic/cinematic/dark instrumental song.

2. PRETTY FACES (feat. Benji Webbe, Caliu & Paul Ilea):

Mihai: It is one of the longest songs of the album, based on an electro track by Sensor (an electro project of Paul Ilea, music producer of The Voice Romania & Romania Got Talent, also a good friend of us). It starts with an “Indian” touch and Jamaican vocals (made by Benji from Skindred), but is played on cimbalom (Romanian traditional instrument). Then it passes in kind of nu-metal /electro verses & chorus with traditional style parts on violin & whistle. It follows a “reggae” metal sound (with vocals from Benji), an instrumental groovy metal intermezzo, a gypsy violin solo by Caliu (famous Gipsy violin player, Taraf des Haïdouks) with some heavy electro-metal arrangements in the background. Then the song returns to verses & chorus and finishes with a traditional Romanian wedding style of the main theme on violin & whistle.

Mat: This song deals with the positive outcomes from the covid era. How extraordinary events push people to adapt and how life always finds its way. The title is sarcastic and it refers to how “pretty” we used to look with these masks on.

3. DOPE-A-MIN:

Mihai: It is probably one of the most energetic songs from the album. It starts quite “standard” with a nu-metal/hardcore intro, then the verses & choruses combine metal with traditional style melodies, giving almost a “pirate metal” ambiance. The intermezzo changes completely, with some complex rhythm break, then a melodic part, with vocals & violin theme composed in gypsy Romanian style. The song ends in symmetry, with the same hardcore/nu metal part as the intro.

Mat: Dopamine plays a role in how we feel pleasure. This song is about all the illusions created on social media and in our relationships in general. We must be happy at all costs, and become dependent of these shots of dopamine like we’d pop vitamins tablets every morning. Also, this song is dope and the key is A minor.

4. WHAT’S GOING ON (feat. Gabriel Radu Arnautu & Boots):

Mihai: It is a short song, with a standard structure. The song idea came from the instrumental theme, made by a friend of ours (Gabriel Radu Arnautu) for his personal project. We adapted this theme giving it a Balkan touch with traditional instruments and adding the modern vocal lines. The verses are combining modern melodic metal & rap nu-metal (part recorded by Mathieu).

Mat: It deals with vanity, and how superficial most successes are presented. « The king of the village » is a French expression meaning self-importance and self-esteem are two different things. One’s related with a misplaced ego, the other with real ambition and accomplishment. Events we’re experiencing in this decade are to me the perfect illustration of this idea.

5. HOT FOR SUMMER:

Mihai: It is probably the craziest song from the album, a very short one that changes the ambiance constantly. After a very soft and cliché intro, we enter the first chorus in English, a kind of Eurovision style of music with some 80s influences, then changes completely, with a Balkan style part, then it follows a very heavy part (metalcore). After, we go back to the chorus, but this time in Italian. It follows a March-style part, to arrive to a Tango-style melody in Italian that combines the “March” rhythm with the Balkan melodic line. The ending is in symmetry.

Mat: This song criticizes the mainstream music industry or the industry. How boring these pop summer hits can sound. Yet, some of these songs are great and it’s not a matter of how simple or repetitive it can be, but whether it is tasteful or not.

6. NEW CONSPIRACY:

Mihai: New Conspiracy is another crazy short song, probably the most aggressive track of the album that starts with a Balkan ambiance (with brass section, acoustic guitars, percussion & cimbalom), then the verses are constructed on the same rhythmic structure, but adding an “oriental” style melodic line on traditional instruments (violin, clarinet, whistles, accordion) and very aggressive vocals. The choruses are in big contrast, being “pure” cold aggressive metal. The ending part starts with very dissonant guitar leads (kind of Meshuggah style), and then we add on top of it a traditional style melody and heavy nu-metal riffs.

Mat: It’s a pamphlet about how mass media, including social media, control and modify the truth.

7.CAND S-O-MPARTIT NOROCU’ (PART 1 & 2):

Mihai: We decided to “cut” the song into two parts, as it is very long (more than 7 minutes) and it was really composed as a 2 parts song. The song is inspired by a very sad traditional Romanian song.

Part 1: it starts with a monotonous and almost funeral ambiance, with a long development in crescendo to the first chorus. Then we return back to the dark verses, but with shorter development, and finish part 1 with a double chorus, even more dramatic.

Part 2: musically is all-original, but we keep traditional lyrics on verses. The ambiance becomes more psychedelic, with Tool's influence on verses. There is an instrumental bridge to the chorus, with gypsy influences, and the chorus in English, with an “elevating” ambiance and an alternative/grunge sound.

Mat: Except for the English chorus, the lyrics are from traditional music, and it is about the fact that we are confronted with tragedies in our lives. The lyrics are constructed in metaphors, about the bad luck that strikes us sometimes. The English chorus is a satyrical resume of how important it is to focus on what’s working when everything seems to go down. Heavy rains will get the grass greener.

8. GEAMPARALELE:

Mihai: The song is inspired by a traditional dance from Dobrogea (South East of Romania), it is a very melodic song. The verses are sung by the backing vocals (as the traditional song is sung by women). The intermezzo is a more progressive metal style, containing the only guitar solo in the whole album.

BONUS TRACKS (PANDEMIC SPECIAL EP):

Mihai: the EP contains remakes & covers released during the pandemic in our web shows “#Stayathome with Dirty Shirt” (2020) and “Dirty Shirt’s Pandemic Special”):

- Resonate: a The Prodigy cover, initially released as a remix, and now as cover, with no original samples.

- Don’t Care: an orchestral remake of a 9 minutes prog song, composed in 1996 and appeared in our first album.

- Away: initially included in Freak Show album (2013), we made an acoustic orchestral arrangement in the web show, and on the EP, we added drums and electric guitars to make an orchestral metal version.

- Latcho Drom feat. Caliu (live studio session): an instrumental traditional song, that opened our latest album (Letchology 2019), but now with Maestro Caliu as a guest, and the complete version.