Dora is the dark alter ego of jazz tinged pop singer / songwriter Maaike Siegerist. This is a very different affair. Her publicity describes Dora Lachaise thus ‘lives in an attic overlooking Arnos Vale Cemetery in Bristol. A European émigré drawn to the city’s lively arts scene and cloudy ciders’.
That’s relevant because the song opens with a distinctly European classic, folkie, swing. In the best tradition of many western European writers it swings in with gorgeous strings. As so often with music I am drawn to it for the quality of the lyrics and the voice delivering them. Dora has an utterly captivating voice. The production is lush too without being over fussy. A voice effect gives a vintage feel to the parts of the vocal that is reflected in the feel of the song that is complimented by the excellent arrangement.
And what is this wonderful voice delivering? Ah well that’s where the darkness comes in. As the title suggests there is more than a touch of (danse) macabre about the piece though perhaps is less sinister than you might think. All delivered in a jaunty 3 / 4. The jauntiness hints at the underlying dark humour of the track. Who is laughing at us? Is it the collector? Is it the bones? Perhaps it’s Dora? If you want the full lyric it is generously suppled at https://doralachaise.bandcamp.com/track/bone-collector and whilst there you might repay that generosity by buying the track on download.
The video is also very well worthwhile checking out filmed as it is in the aforementioned Arnos Vale, an excellent filming ground as I can attest. Find it and more about Dora at https://doralachaise.com/ The follow up ‘I Confess’ is out first Friday in March.
Dora seems very much a child of the pandemic and lockdown. Every cloud eh?
SongSmith Global 