ALBUM REVIEW: Love, Death & In Between – DeWolff

From the Netherlands we are presented with the latest release from DEWOLFF, a psychedelic rock band who, in their own words, “can’t sit still.” Their latest album, Love, Death & In Between, is certainly a reflection of that statement, with the energy ever flowing and inspiration coming from a sermon that lead vocalist and guitarist Pablo van de Poel attended that left him taken aback and emotionally touched. The album also stands as a reaction to their previous two records – 2020’s Tascam Tapes, which was recorded with an 80s cassette tape, and 2021’s Wolffpack, which was put together via social distancing as the world went through the pandemic.

So with a culmination of different factors, one has to wonder what the end result is; well, a rather chaotic yet pleasant combination of different styles and sounds. If anything, it would be best to describe this record as something play while you’re at a family barbecue or dinner, the perfect album to put on as you’re preparing and cooking food. On the one hand the songs are chilled, especially the likes of Heart Stopping Kinda Show and Jackie Go To Sleep, which are two tracks that are perfectly suited to being used as elevator music – something to play in the background, pleasant, yet you probably won’t actively seek them out again.

Then we have the songs which are bluesy and soul-like, with prime examples being tracks like Night Train and Mr Garbage Man. These are the types of tracks that take a step back and try to view the world through a different lens. And finally, we have the upbeat, Latina-style fusion in songs like Rosita, which stands at a whopping 16 minutes long, and Counterfeit Love, both of which definitely place you in a pleasant mood. It’s hard to really compare this album to anything else that’s out there, which can be both a gift and a curse, but in this case it’s considered to be more of a gift.

More than anything, Love, Death & In Between is just rather chill background music; there’s nothing that really makes it stand out but it’s nice to put on when you need to do some work, even if it is perhaps not something that you’ll actively seek out again.

Rating: 6/10

Love, Death & In Between is out now via Mascot Records/Mascot Label Group.

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