Closer Look: Yellow House

Favorite Songs: Blinging Sights, Ain’t Gonna Call, Strung Out, Love in the Time of Socialism

Music has a transporting quality. It’s the music we love that takes us furthest outside ourselves. Realizing this, it’s no surprise why the NJ Transit commuter rail headed northbound to NYC is always packed with people listening to music. Each listener, who’d prefer not be standing on a train at 7am, is enjoying a bit of musical escapism. For me, finding new places to escape to has been a huge part of my musical journey.

In this regard, there’s one artist that really stands out – Yellow House. Yellow House is the musical creation of South African multi-instrumentalist, Emile van Dango. On his minimalist website, he banners the phrase, “This is a mysterious journey into the worlds of romance, introspection and impressionism.” This description could not be more accurate. If you’ve not already clicked play on the embedded Spotify link below, now is the time.

While artists often go back to revisit genres and musical influences, Dango travels back over 100 years to the height of French post-impressionism. In doing so, Dango does something really unique — he wraps his music around that of a different art form — painting. His only two albums, Sermon on Desire and A Carnival of Fears, are moody, expressive, and colorful. Each song flows into the next with a committed post-impressionist feel. The album art itself contains paintings from prominent post-impressionist painters, Paul Gaugauin (Pape moe 1893) and Van Gogh (The Street 1888). Dango channels his entire musical identity into this distant time and space.

When I first came across Dango’s music two years ago, I had never realized how far music could take me outside myself. As if by magic, warm summer nights in Rhode Island were transformed. During late nights, the sacred line between dream-state and waking reality felt blurred and unimportant. Held under low light and infused with the drifting sounds of Yellow House, the red and yellow hues of my bedroom walls felt vibrant and alive.

This notion of being transported by music is something I’ve always found fascinating. It’s a core concept to this website and something that underlies much of my writing. If anyone has had similar experiences, feel free to drop a comment below or submit your own writing.