According to Dog Men Poets frontman Michael Brouillet, the eclectic quartet’s new CD, Perspective Vol. 1: Sounds of Survival `see review`, represented plenty of firsts for the band: The first time that Brouillet wrote a set of DMP songs on his own; the group’s first studio collaboration with Mingo Fishtrap’s Roger Blevins; and the first time they had a solid theme running through the material.
“Roger has such a broad approach to music,” Brouillet says. “I think that really influenced where we were going as far as the songwriting. Looking at our first album with some distance from it, you kind of evolve in how you go about things.”
A revealing album highlight, “Say Ray,” tells the story of Brouillet’s childhood friend from Connecticut who passed away unexpectedly, at least partly due to complications from an eating disorder. “She was a beautiful girl,” he says, “but in her vision of herself, something was going on there.”
DMP will celebrate the album’s release at Music Town (4714 Broadway St.) on Saturday, July 12 at 9 p.m.
“With the release, I wanted it to be really intimate and a lot smaller,” Brouillet says. “It’s a great space and considering what the album’s about, it just felt more appropriate.”
