Since the release of the previous Dusty Stray album A Tree Fell And Other Songs in 2015, Jonathan Brown - the man behind the music - moved from the flat Netherlands to mountainous Colorado, USA and back again. Living in the fatherland for the first time in 20 years had its ups and downs. Among the downs: at the very first Dusty Stray concert in Colorado he was asked by the club owner to leave after the first set explaining that the music was too much of a "downer" for a Saturday night. Among the ups: he had the opportunity to play and record with some exceptional musicians who are now featured on the new Dusty Stray album Estranged. A combination of recordings with these musicians in the US and recordings made with regular collaborator and legendary producer Kramer (Low, Ween, Galaxie 500), Estranged takes the listener on a gentle meander through fourteen songs in the Dusty Stray tradition of "delightfully dark" (Americana.uk): songs about aging, unrequited love, untimely death, childhood nightmares and writer/illustrator Edward Gorey. As far as the sound, expect the trademark Dusty Stray acousticdriven music with the occasional lap steel guitar, banjo, ukulele accompanied by lightly psychedelic undertones.
