Sometimes the inadvertent paradox of grandiose music is that the bigger it sounds, the less personal it can feel. The archetype of one artist and their guitar making music that everyone can relate to often only applies to sounds that are stripped down. Yet on Dan Knishkowy’s new album as Adeline Hotel, titled Away Together, this pitfall is circumvented. The warm and bare-bones guitar playing is felt immediately on the opener "So Long", but when it builds to a transcendent apex, the same crisp, emotional pointedness can be felt. The album features guitars that paint a hazy picture and pianos that bring back lucidity as Knishkowy’s lyrics push through the gossamer of life: relationships and time passing by as reality blurs. Away Together is a record that furtively slips into your own memories, demolishing the barrier between listener and artist. While songs like "Lightning" and "Plastic Stars" bring a brash urgency to the record, it’s the eponymous coda that cements how versatile Knishkowy can be in creating personal music. Adeline Hotel will be playing a release show at Union Pool this Friday, Oct. 26, but you can stream the album in full below. -Tucker Pennington
