Listening to Doveman is like being the only other person in a room where a secret is being whispered. Thomas Bartlett crafts a sound defined by its proximity; the vocals are so close-mic'd you can hear every intake of breath, and the piano is often dampened to emphasize the mechanical thud of the keys over the ring of the strings. It is music that exists in the spaces between notes, prioritizing silence and stillness over traditional pop momentum.
What makes this project distinctive is the 'Burgundy Stain' aesthetic: a mix of high-brow classical training and raw, vulnerable indie sensibilities. While Bartlett is a virtuoso pianist, he uses his technical skill to strip songs down to their skeletal remains. His covers, in particular, take well-known melodies and slow them to a glacial pace, revealing hidden melancholia in even the most upbeat source material.
Start with 'With My Left Hand I Raise the Dead' for the definitive Doveman experience. It perfectly captures that specific New York after-hours energy: sophisticated, slightly weary, and deeply emotional. It is the ideal soundtrack for moments of total solitude or late-night reflection when anything louder than a whisper feels like an intrusion.
Thomas Bartlett (born October 13, 1981), also known as Doveman, is an American pianist, producer, and singer. He has released four solo albums as Doveman, four albums as a member of The Gloaming, duo albums with the composer Nico Muhly and the hardanger d’amore player Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, and "Shelter," an album of solo piano compositions. As a producer, Bartlett has worked with a range of notable artists, including Yoko Ono, St. Vincent, and Norah Jones. "Mystery of Love", a collaboration with Sufjan Stevens for the soundtrack to Call Me by Your Name, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, and a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 61st ceremony. Bebel Gilberto's "Agora," produced, engineered and mixed by Bartlett, was nominated for Best Global Music Album at the 2021 Grammys, and he also contributed to Taylor Swift's Evermore, and Rufus Wainwright's Unfollow the Rules, both nominated that year. Since 2018, Bartlett has worked closely with Florence and the Machine, and in April 2021 it was announced that Florence and Bartlett were co-writing a Broadway-bound musical based on The Great Gatsby.
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