Robert Ascroft fully incorporates his experience as a photographer and director in Hollywood and songwriting in the beautifully haunting video for his song “Dorian Gray.” With ethereal vocals from Ora Cogan the song is a processional of recursive, dream pop streams of guitar and gently accented percussion with shimmery strings gilding the edges of melody. It’s a song that appears to be about people preserving a memory of each other as they once were in a good time of life with impressions that resonate across years even as we change with age though the emotional attachments remain though those evolve and grow with us with the people with whom we share a special bond. The video shows two marionettes looking into funhouse mirrors and accept the distortions as one aspect of perception and how we perceive ourselves in a particular moment isn’t the full truth nor the one most enduring, certainly not in the minds of others. The song seems to suggest that we can accept the impermanence of life and ourselves and embrace the changes as part of a bigger picture, a lifelong process of becoming who we will be and learning along the way. Fans of Slowdive will appreciate the languid sweeps of gossamer tone in slow motion and the rosettes of guitar tone that blossom and fade into the backdrop of swirling tones that keep the song in a comforting and dreamlike state. Ascroft’s latest album Echo Still Remains released on February 14, 2025 via Hand Drawn Dracula. Watch the video for “Dorian Gray,” directed and shot by Ascroft as well, on YouTube and follow the artist at the links provided.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
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