deddori - The Message

deddori are an elusive new electro/chill outfit from Qatar. So elusive are this new production group, in fact, that their name, the streaming track for their first single, “The Message”, the video for said single and a short blurb about said video are all the information that is available about them at this point. With so little information, it’s actually kind of a fun review challenge. First let’s extrapolate out from what we do know:

deddori already have a Bandcamp page, a .net web domain and an expensive-looking video on Vimeo, so it stands to reason that “The Message” won’t be the only single this person/duo/group release. There is more evidence of that at the end of the video, because it literally says “To be continued…”. Pretty strong data. It’s also pretty clear that the musical track of “The Message” and the video are meant to go together. The music and action are perfectly synced and the visual presence of the video matches the tone of the song. It also seems, before even getting into the afore-mentioned short blurb about the video, that deddori really, really likes bikes. It’s easy enough to tell from the video itself, but there’s more proof in the form of a submission deddori sent to thefixedgearworld.com, which was published and lauded as a great bike-themed video.

Now to break down the small amount of written information about deddori and “The Message”. Apparently both the track and video were inspired by a bike ride at night while deddori or a member of deddori was listening to "Aleph" by Gesaffelstein. This small bit of information actually provides a lot of background. First, musically, it’s pretty clear how the track emulates this high quality electro classic. The rolling bassline and slow, deconstructed breakbeat of “The Message” is remarkably similar to “Aleph” but not a copy by any means. The musical action remains sort of flatline a’la Gesaffelstein or earlier examples of dark electro like Tangerine Dream; there is a crescendo and a denouement, but they’re both very subtle. Once the beat, bass and melody are established, there’s not a whole lot added to the track. This is a specific style of electro which, with its minimal lines and short melodic bursts, gives the artist space to create subtle builds and breakdowns. This technique is used by Gesaffelstein and other electro legends like Kraftwerk and Daft Punk. The track is emotive and evocative, but the listener can’t always pinpoint why. deddori does a great job of using this and other techniques to create a soothing yet emotive and memorable track.

Kraftwerk and Daft Punk are also known for syncing their music up with video and visuals, and deddori’s video for “The Message” is meant to do the same. The video was shot in and around Doha, Qatar’s capital, in a gritty yet polished style. The action of the mini-film is centered around bikes and biking as the faceless protagonist bikes from the outer edges of the desert surrounding Doha to the outskirts of the city. Her impetus for leaving her punk rock yoga in the desert is a text message (hence the song’s title?) intimating a rendezvous. She’s picked up by a boat and taken into Doha, where more peaceful and/or suspenseful riding occurs. The video is likely shot to be ambiguous on purpose, and depending on the mood of the listener, one can assume this is like the opening to an action movie or something less sinister like a nice ride and a date. The end of the video leads viewers to believe the heroine is simply meeting her mysterious texter for more cruising of Doha’s quiet streets, but with the “To be continued” flashing on the screen at the video’s end, it seems that’s not the whole story either.

The enigma that is deddori has certainly gotten off to a running (or biking) start. With clean, emotive production on par with Tangerine Dream and Gesaffelstein and provocative videos that pick up the story where the music left off, deddori could be the next experimental intelligent electro phenomenon. Whoever is behind this exciting new project is carving out a significant niche in a difficult genre.