Piet Dalmolen Music 2025
Time Stands Still
A snapshot of one’s inner microcosm as captured by American composer who issues his debut to seize the day.
Being a part of Californian music scene as a studio engineer and session guitarist didn’t really leave Piet Dalmolen time for reflection, and it took the pandemic to make the veteran revise his life priorities and make a few existential moves. One of those was a trip to Maui where Dalmolen not only honed his recently acquired skills as a surfer but also wrote a bunch of songs which form Piet’s first solo outing. However, the results of his efforts could have sounded too relaxed for the listener’s comfort if not for Hawaiian motifs sharing space on this album with Caribbean vibes – and still, strange dichotomy, especially obvious when simple philosophy is involved alongside pefromative style, doesn’t end here.
As attractive as Dalmolen are, lulling repetition and stunted development of some tunes manifest themselves across these eight numbers, which is why shorter cuts of Pacific stripe such as “Entropy” work not as effectively as pieces sourced in the Atlantic, like the 7-minute “Being” whose reggae figures feel arresting. Yet it’s difficult to justify the presence in a single context of two contradictory maxims – the titular phrase “Time stands still” in sweet opener “Floating” and “Time waits for no one” in “Falling Together” that sits closer to the record’s end – despite the riveting instrumental interplay as a support for Piet’s soft, unassuming vocals. But once his six strings send harmonic passages and jagged riffs beyond surf rock and towards fusion, a few fresh aspects of the musician’s creative method get revealed, with Matt Engel’s ivories on “Cosmic Joke” and voiceless “Dropping In” increasing the melodies’ allure.
As Ian Taylor’s bass and Tommy Fitzmaurice’s drums render the expansive, piano-rippled “Lahaina” quite dramatic, the platter’s depth is demonstrated in full – only all the solemnity will be swept away by the brisk “Shark Pit” which serves up an optimistic finale, yet leaves the audience wanting to dive under the surface again rather than ride the wave. Should Piet Dalmolen strike a balance between these experiences on his next offering, there might come a real punch.
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