Dri: Two Are One -- a track review
May 2, 2008
Words by Andrew Morgan
Illustration by Jeff Johnston
Lyrics to "Two Are One"
Who's in your heart's not always who's in your bed
You go looking for love and find a lover there instead
So you hold them like you'd hold the one you love
Until it starts to feel like the two of them are one
Two are one
Who's in your bed's not always who's in your heart
Some nights I pretend like I can't tell them apart
But then I sleep through the dark with my eyes wide open
And my dreams play out against the ceiling
And in every scene it's you who's with me
And not this lover who lays beside me
Like we're acting
In a movie...
Who's in your heart's not always who's in your bed
The night has a way of making you forget
That if the one you love's not the one you're loving
All that loving will amount to nothing
So I take off running and try to catch you
There's so many things I have to tell you
But you won't wait up
And then I wake up...
The intimacy and disquieting truth of this Dri song borders on the obscene. Forty-five seconds in, a harmony on the first utterance of the words "two are one" sends currents of ice to descend upon the nerves. It's devastating, and so brave for a track 1/side 1. The bulk of the songs that follow possess a "diary of the night before" feel reminiscent of Lily Allen's _Alright, Still..._, or even Arctic Monkey's _Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not_. They're all delightful compositions, especially "Don't Wait," "Inspiration," "You Know I Tried," and title track "Smoke Rings," but the disparity in mood makes "Two Are One" stand out all the more. The sparse accompaniment -- electronic beats and a funereal organ -- conjures an image of Dri standing alone in the wind on a harsh hillside. She cuts a Nico-like figure on "Two Are One," and it's easy to imagine her going the way of Chelsea Girls in the future. She possesses a remarkably rich voice, at once dead and dynamic, and deploys it with such graceful versatility. It's an inevitability that _Smoke Rings_ will invite comparisons to Feist and the aforementioned Allen, but the promise of "Two Are One" is such that Dri could one day eclipse them both.
