Ears Wide Open: My Dead Air, ‘Holding On’

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Dan Ballard of My Dead Air hunkered down in a basement of an old building off the Pacific Coast Highway for nine months to write and record his new album, “The Thief Who Knows My Name” (out Aug. 14), a groovy 10 songs in which each track tells a different story from his lifetime. Previously of the band Until June, which garnered a couple hit singles here and in Europe, My Dead Air began as Ballard’s side project until that other band slowed down and he found himself free to do his thing. The first song Ballard completed was “Holding On.” Did the scent of the sea waft into the concrete room and fill his isolation with this ethereal nostalgic mood? Was he lonesome but feeling magical about it? These questions arise because the song reminisces on clinging to the idea of a good love, despite the reality that it’s blowing to smithereens. The listener has time to get lost in what did or didn’t happen, Ballard’s words wrapping around a wistful, breezy melody while shimmery details invite us to imagine a moment in slow motion, or from different angles, rewinding and unwinding the dream cluttered by other little illusions. You know, the usual blunders of life, love and memory. Citing a definite 1970s influence, “Holding On” feels like it’s coasting on roller skates.

||| Stream: “Holding On”