I don’t need to understand every word a singer delivers to know when a voice belongs to a song. T. Soomian gave me that feeling with “Dariner” almost immediately. Sung in Armenian, the track creates a distance that somehow makes the experience more intimate rather than less. I found myself paying attention to the sound of the language, the shape of the vocals and everything happening around them, rather than trying to translate the words in my head.
The arrangement is where this really opens up. The drums keep a steady pace underneath, whilst guitars, percussion and other textures seem to wander freely around them, much like birds moving between trees or wind finding its way through the branches. The guitar has plenty of confidence and fuzz, but it never tries to dominate the composition. It knows exactly when to push and when to step aside, which gives the whole recording a surprisingly natural movement.
For me, “Dariner” works best when you stop trying to analyse every piece of it. Let the ego take a little nap and the track starts revealing its surroundings. There is something almost ritualistic in the combination of the Armenian vocals, the psychedelic production and that persistent groove. I could easily imagine this music somewhere high in the mountains, away from traffic, screens and all the other things that keep our heads permanently switched on. It has that rare ability to make listening feel physical.
About T. Soomian:
The connection to 1970s Armenian psychedelic and soul music gives T. Soomian an interesting starting point, but “Dariner” doesn’t sound like an exercise in historical reconstruction. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Soomian brings those older influences into a world shaped by R&B, global sounds and modern production. The result is an excellent piece of psychedelic soul that feels rooted without becoming trapped by its roots. This is the kind of music I want to discover: something with a history behind it, but enough imagination to walk somewhere new.
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