A Deee-Liteful Experience

Two years after the release of Infinity Within, I had moved to Belgium to study in university. This is pretty much the time when music you would hear around was getting really boring and monotonous. One day I was zapping through channels and came to MTV. I happened to catch the end of their news program in which I caught a three second glimpse of Lady Miss Kier lying down on grass (which I later learned was from the Picnic in the Summertime video). I didn't know if it was some kind of interview or clips from a new video. One thing I was sure of was that I had not seen Lady Miss Kier in that outfit before. I rushed to the record store and to my delight saw their new album being sold. Just when I was thinking that the critics ruined their efforts in giving us the most inspiring music ever, I was holding Dewdrops in the Garden in my hands.

To be honest, I did not know what to expect. First of all, I noticed a new band member, Ani, on the cover of the album. Compared to their previous look, the band members also looked less groovy but more sporty. One thing I noticed was that Lady Kier kept getting more and more pretty. Also, it looked in a way like Towa "Towa" Tei had kind of lost interest in the band and had only helped out in the song Call Me. Most of the work had been done by Dmirty and Lady Kier. At the time this album was released, it was said that Towa Tei was working with Japanese pop star Nokko and writing his solo album, Future Listening. It was said that he would be returning to Deee-Lite for their fourth album, but the fourth album never became a reality (if we don't count the remix album).

I'm not too sure what the critics said about this album, but I saw that somewhere it was given one star and said it was nothing compared to their earlier works. Once again, in my opinion, this was the consequence of the Deee-Lite fans being split after the second album and some people just being hooked too much on Groove is in the Heart. If anyone thinks that Dewdrops in the Garden is worth one star, I think they should get their ears checked. I had friends who never heard anything else besides Groove is in the Heart and did not think much of Deee-Lite. But once they heard some of the songs in this album, it kind of became the album of my flat. They knew that once they got tired of their partying and the commercial music they hear everywhere, they could always come back to my flat, sit back and enjoy this great music.
 

I remember each of my friends liking a different song from the album. One friend kinda looked at me in a "what's this music?" kind of way when Stay in Bed, Forget the Rest started. Towards the end he was singing along "You make me lose my mind, each and every time, time." Another friend, who listened to a completely different kind of music at the time was really hooked up on River of Freedom and was telling me "Don't pass that one, that's my favorite!" Of course, in the meantime, I was feeling all proud that they were digging my music, as if I made Deee-Lite. On a funny side note, another friend was getting a kick out of Lady Kier saying "Why don't you get call waiting or something?" in the song Call Me.

Dewdrops in the Garden was an album where Deee-Lite showed us that they were capable of making all kinds of music and appeal to so many in different ways. It's just too bad that so many people never bothered to listen to it and find that out for themselves. This time some of their songs, like Bring Me Your Love and Dance Music Trance had really trancey beat and vocals. The romanticism that showed itself in Infinity Within was perfected in this album with songs like Stay in Bed, Forget the Rest and Picnic in the Summertime. Moreover, the happy music and lyrics of Deee-Lite we were introduced to from the first album continued in this one with songs like When You Told Me You Love Me and Bittersweet Loving. Last but not least, Deee-Lite even gave us a reggae melody with Apple Juice Kissing, which one girl I met over the net described as being their "sexiest song" in her view.

In contrast to their second album, this album did not concentrate on Deee-Lite's political beliefs. At the time of the release of Dewdrops in the Garden, Lady Kier had compared it with Infinity Within by saying "During the Gulf War and Bush years we felt it was important to use the platform we had in the media responsibly. Our new album is more about personal politics rather than global. We're going back to our original concept. People have enough problems, they don't need to hear it in music. Just making uplifting music is a political statement in itself. We want to strengthen their spirit on the dance floor so they can diffuse the dissatisfaction from daily global destruction." The album drew inspiration from Lady Kier's travels to the Hopi ruins in the Painted Desert and pyramids in the Yucatan and Dmirty's travels to the Grand Canyon and Joshua Tree. The inspiration was clear in Lady Kier's descripton of the track Soulreflector: "It is about the love of the collective dancefloor conciousness. The D.J. is like the guru, the booth is the altar, the dancefloor is the sacred ground we worship on."

As I said earlier, their video from this album was that of Picnic in the Summertime. Compared to Deee-Lite's earlier videos, this one was very mellow and there wasn't anything psychadelic about it. It starts off with a short sample from Bring Me Your Love and people dancing in a club. After that part is over, the rest of the video takes place in a park and Lady Kier singing and looking gorgeous in her pink dress. The video basically concentrates on her, and we see only a bit of D.J. Dmitry while Towa is not even in it except for a short glimpse from an unrelated shooting.

With the release of Sampladelic Relics and Dancefloor Oddities in 1996, we got a chance to hear remixed versions of Deee-Lite's songs. To be honest, I think this album is also a must buy, but I was a bit disappointed when I heard about it because I knew that Deee-Lite had broken up for sure and they would not get back together. Around the same time, I heard of Towa releasing his solo album, and Lady Kier also starting her solo project. I am assuming D.J. Dmitry is D.J.ing and inspiring others. Since then, Towa has released two albums. There is still not much word on Lady Kier's solo project and her official homepage is not very informative. I haven't listened to any of Towa's works and I don't really see the point because it was really the music and lyrics of Lady Kier and D.J. Dmitry that made Deee-Lite my favorite band. It's just a shame that a band which released three of my favorite albums in a period of six years did not stick together. I know they could have produced another three albums by now if they did. I think it would have been possible to continue with Ani instead of Towa, but then again, I don't know the whole story behind their breakup. In 2001, the Very Best of Deee-Lite album was released by Rhino Records. Logically, if you own their trilogy, there is no point in buying it. But if you are still one of those people that think Deee-Lite was a one hit wonder and at the same time you don't want to buy their trilogy, I advise you to buy their best of album.

Enough said. It has been a deee-liteful experience. I'd like to thank Deee-Lite members for the great music and lyrics and all the positive energy they gave me. As you can see, I do not make any kind of profit through my page. The reason why I don't put any affiliate links or related junk on my page is because I wish to bring the awareness that we should all give something to the net, without expecting something in return. Just the way it should be in real life. We shouldn't be leeching zombies who sit all day grabbing files from other people. Similarly in real life, we shouldn't always take and take as if the world is our oyster. That goes for both globally and in one on one relations. I wanted to share my Deee-Lite experience, because I know that out there are people who can relate to the concept of how music can see you through the lonely nights. Last but not least, my biggest mission in making this page was to let the members of Deee-Lite know what a positive effect they have had on my life with their music and how I wish I wasn't in an another continent and I could tell them this face to face. Keep the groove alive!