Exclaim!'s Staff Picks: Jeremy Dutcher Takes an Exciting New Direction with "Ancestors Too Young"

BY Alex HudsonPublished Jul 4, 2023

"Ancestors Too Young" is not only the first English-language song Jeremy Dutcher has ever released, it's also the first one he ever wrote — and it's a powerful new prism through which the composer shines his light. His plaintive vibrato still reflects his opera training as he sings, "Tears are a language / I speak well" — but his howl eventually rises to a rock-inspired crescendo, an influence reflected by the song's relentlessly tumbling drums and jagged shards of abstract guitar.

It's an exciting new direction for the composer's upcoming sophomore album, Motewolonuwok, mixing art rock influences with orchestral swells and a jazz rhythm section.

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