Well-respected and sought after by her musical peers in Toronto, Dorothea Paas cashes in on Think of Mist, her glistening sophomore solo record. Embracing a more collaborative approach, Paas's latest is a lushly orchestrated pop affair that expands her folk-rock leanings into softer places and finds her contemplating one's sense of self in interpersonal relationships.
Paas has worked with artists like U.S. Girls, Jennifer Castle, Badge Époque Ensemble, Jane Inc. and Shabason & Krgovich, among others, and on some level these experiences have altered her. She earned acclaim for her debut album, 2021's Anything Can't Happen, but its follow-up is something of a departure.
Think of Mist's full-band sound, shaped in part by fluid improvisation, more collaborative input (by engineer Dave Plowman and musicians Chris A. Cummings, Ed Squires, Edwin de Goeij, Eliza Niemi, Liam Cole, Mara Nesrallah and Paul Saulnier) and time spent studying the works of Sade and Hiroshi Yoshimura, conjure gentle psych-rock and tactile jazz — see the Stereolab-esque "Diver," which refracts like water in real-time. The record also finds Paas playfully experimenting with her vocal arrangements, crafting subtly humourous songs infused with both sensual and spiritual themes.
Raised in a Christian home, Paas now reckons with sublimation in a fascinating manner, mirroring the notion of giving oneself to God with how one might lose themselves to a lover, a heady allegorical move to say the least. Paas often writes lyrics that both assert the self and recognize that relinquishing one's ego offers a much clearer perspective on the role any individual plays in the grand scheme of living among people.
On "Night Picture," she sings: "And the darkness is total / And soundwaves travel differently / And creatures I will never see / Move freely, ungoverned, unaffected by me, thinking of you / My worries contained here in this room." Paas knows she matters, but she also acknowledges that this world can and will rightly spin around without her — it's a powerfully grounding realization.
That mature reckoning with existentialism, coupled with a joy to live life and pursue love, suggests a rare form of artistic thoughtfulness. And because of its alluring soundscape, Think of Mist feels airy and accessible, even as Paas quietly presents herself as one of our most slyly provocative musical theorists working today.