Feature • Dorine Levy, “Underwater”

Originally Posted: February 5, 2014

‘There For Me’ opens “Underwater” in an ambient, distorted manner, and Dorine Levy’s unique artistic vision is immediately evident from the beginning. The instrumentation is distinctive and ambient with new instruments and sounds added continuously. This first track is very personal (the lyrics and backing vocals, too), and there is so much going on sound-wise across the sonic landscape from beginning to end. The producer did a fantastic job on the mix, adding subtle intricacies throughout the track that showcase and enhance Levy’s sound. The bass play is excellent, and the vocal performance throughout is consistent. ‘There For Me’ closes just as it begins; this track is incredibly professional, intriguing, and different. ‘Lenyrose’ changes things up, opening with reversed, cycled delay and soaring vocals. Everything seems to be on point so far through these two songs, especially the great vocal harmonies and very full chorus section found here. A strong musical flow and vibe is present from the get-go, as is a very emotional, expressive mood and tone. The lead guitar parts are gentle, yet important, helping to showcase further Levy’s musical diversity. The most impressive aspect of these two singles is the fact that they are so full of sound and instrumentation without sounding muddy or losing any clarity. ‘New Lover’ contains a refreshing feel and intelligent, original lyrics. The story line is easy to follow and is descriptive, the song mainly bass and drums driven with more soft support from a lead guitar. Later, otherwordly oscillating sounds drive the song’s unique vision and tone towards another full chorus, ultimately leading to the song’s mainly instrumental bridge, which is especially showy, cementing ‘New Lover’ as another solid, well thought-out track from Dorine Levy. These three tracks represent an incredibly well-oiled machine, with everything working well together. Each outstanding, professional recording, complete with fantastic takes from each musician, featured all of the instruments playing in tune and in synch, each performance showcasing Levy’s musical depth and creativity; even the close of each song was planned and foretelling of what was to come. Levy is not only creative musically, she is also doing an excellent job with her visual and social presentation online (album artwork, overall image) as well; I look forward to hearing more from Dorine Levy and wish the best of luck to her in her future endeavors. 

“I was born in Israel and grew up in Montreal. I started singing and writing at a young age, but I was insecure for years and only performed to my friends at home. I had an opportunity to record a song called ‘La mort’ that eventually became viral before the internet days and after getting amazing feedback I allowed myself to go for it. Since then I’ve been writing and producing music and just recently released my debut album ‘Underwater’ this past November.”

What life experiences and events inspired the writing and recording of your album “Underwater”?

“(“Underwater”) was written and produced at a very special time in my life, a time that (looking back) was extremely destructive and then constructive; at that time I was hiding in my studio and writing the album. I had to go through this to change.”

What went into the filming and production on your music videos for ‘There For Me’ and ‘Cow Boy Fest’? 

“The Director of ‘There for Me’, Dudy Dayan, came to one of my shows last year and liked my music. He offered to film a music video, and I looked at his work and saw a session of beach photographs he did at night which I liked, so we took that reference and built a story around it. With a crew we filmed it in one amazing day from coast to coast in Israel. ‘Cow Boy Fest’ was spontaneous: I wanted to film a presentation of my Duo Set so we filmed in an abandoned house. We brought some lighting, plugged in our gear, and played. I’m releasing a new video for ‘Lenyrose’, which is 9 months in production already, soon. I can’t say much but it came out beautifully.”

What have been some of your favorite live experiences in your career thus far? Do you have any festival dates lined up for 2014?

“Most definitely SXSW was one of my favorites. We have three festivals confirmed this year, two in Europe and one in North America. Dates and details will be announced soon.”