Dren McDonald is a San Francisco Bay area composer who has been releasing music since the 1990s and whose new album, Vox Pterous (Appearing Records) arrives July 31. The LP updates McDonald’s 2023 release, Pterous (meaning “with wings”), by adding vocals to the compositions (as the title suggests).
Among those who lent their considerable talents to the project were Sophia James, known for the viral Tik Tok trend “Group 7”; she’s also the granddaughter of McDonald’s former music teacher, Chuck Wackerman (father of drummers John, Chad, and Brooks). Amelie Anna, who McDonald has collaborated with on music for game scores, provides her unique approach to the affair to dazzling results. The inimitable Carla Kihlstedt (Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Charming Hostess) and Paula Frazer, who led the brilliant 4AD-signed Tarnation and who has been a mainstay of the San Francisco singer-songwriter scene since the ‘90s, both shine especially bright here.
McDonald has been making music for video games (and even an amusement park) since the 2000s, setting standards and winning awards in the ever-evolving industry while maintaining ties to the DIY spirit that guided him through the early years of his musical career as a touring musician and independent label mogul.
It was his Vaccination Records that unleashed upon the world Eyesore: (A Stab At The Residents) which featured contributions from Bay Area stalwarts such as Idiot Flesh, the aforementioned Charming Hostess, and Primus and through which he became friends with The Residents’ Hardy Fox, who inspired the track “Resting of Light” (which will receive a remix from the band after Vox Pterous’s release).
McDonald’s expertly crafted guitar layers serve as the perfect accompaniment to vocal performances that are both inviting and mysterious, earthly and otherworldly, heartbreaking in their beauty and healing in their full impact. The expertly crafting compositions quickly capture the listener’s imagination, enveloping us in the dreamlike majesty, and demonstrating fully McDonald’s prodigious gifts in his chosen art.
Like the best work from Phil Manzanera, the music here elevates and protects the soul, adorning the listener with their own wings, allowing them to soar, allowing them to raise their voices and sing.
Host/Producer: Jedd Beaudoin
Theme music: Torin Andersen
