First a roar steadily builds, then we hear the first piano tone of The Unknown - along with the voice of Dominique Dillon de Byington. There it is again, the unique timbre of the young Berlin-based artist who captivated the music press and arts critics alike with her 2011 debut album on BPitch Control This Silence Kills.
With songs like Tip Tapping , Thirteen Thirtyfive and You Are My Winter Dillon, originally from Brazil, left an impression on more than just the indie scene. This Silence Kills was sweet and enticing enough to establish itself as a pop record with singer-songwriter passion and experimental enough to be taken seriously as an art project. It was described as chanson-pop, sensuous electronic music featuring a voice comparable to Feist, Björk or Joanna Newsom. There followed two sold-out tours and numerous festival gigs all over the world a life on the road. For Dillon this was completely unexplored territory. The Unknown is not only the first song she wrote for her eponymous second album, it is how Dillon evokes that thing in life that has no name, no description no boundaries. The Unknown can be anything: longing, love, loss, transience, fear or desire. In keeping with the cover art for The Unknown the twelve new tracks have a more direct, natural and candid feel: The lyrics are a lot more abstract and open, although they are just as personal and introverted, says Dillon about the songs she wrote between May and November 2013. Tracks like In Silence and 4ever are sometimes pensive, they exude this profound contemplation which must not always be characterised as melancholy. Whereas the majority of the debut album, with all its melodies and arrangements, had been written before it was recorded, The Unknown came about more as a conceptual work. Yet despite the new approach, it should still be understood as a sequel to The Silence Kills. The foundation for album number two was laid within three weeks at the same studio and even in the same room of Clouds Hill Recordings in Hamburg. Once more she worked with Thies ynther (Phantom/Ghost) and Tamer Fahri Özgönenc (MIT): I didnt see any sense in working with someone else. Back then we began a dialogue that, in my eyes, was never concluded.
