When a musician takes on a new project, only a general direction opens before them—a vague idea, a barely formed conception. The final result remains unknown until the moment the work is completely formed. And then, through familiar instruments—the human voice, melodic architecture, software for sound transformation—something is born that is capable of capturing the hearts of listeners, turning their inner world upside down.

DF Tram is the perfect embodiment of this principle. His creative path represents a document of constant transformation, evolution, and experimental exploration. The beginning of this journey is particularly telling: DF Tram initially existed as a collective, a creative partnership of two close friends. Dylan and Frank, united by a shared vision, created a project that seemed full of promise. However, the scene, with its demands and pressures, proved too heavy a burden for Frank, and he left the project. Dylan, driven by loyalty to their shared vision, continued the work, effectively becoming the living embodiment of DF Tram. What once was a duet of dreamers transformed into a solo project of one artist who preserved the collective spirit.

Dylan’s journey contains many important milestones. Regular trips to regional music camps, participation in countless festivals—all of this allowed him to expand the boundaries of his own sound, to hear the audience’s reaction, to constantly refine his authorial style. One of the most defining chapters of his creative biography is connected to the influence of Bruce Haack, a legend of electronic music and an innovator of synthesizer technologies. A manager passed on to the young musician a series of unfinished demo recordings by Haack—materials that served as the foundation for the revelation of Dylan’s own talent. The musician himself recalls this period with considerable trepidation: he worked so intensively with these recordings that he feared being accused of imitation, dreaded that his own voice would be forever overshadowed by the legacy of his idol. However, history often refutes our darkest forebodings.

Dylan’s fears proved groundless. The influence of Haack is still perceptible in his music—it is present in the architecture of sound, in the experimental approach to material processing. However, Dylan has forged a completely personal language, an individual and unique style that speaks in the voice exclusively of its creator. This becomes especially evident when listening to the new album “Bittersweet Afternoon.”

Nine tracks. Each one represents a separate world, an autonomous microcosm with its own logic, atmosphere, and emotional architecture. The album contains cinematic motifs, retrospective elements, psychedelic impulses capable of deeply immersing impressionable natures into a state bordering on trance. “Bittersweet Afternoon” works like an intricately faceted precious gem that requires examination from different angles, under various light sources, in differing states of perception.

“Ana Turn the Lights On” opens the album with a lyrical work permeated with vintage notes. Guitar fingerpicking creates an illusion that transports the listener—either to a bonfire under the open sky or to the atmospheric interior of a hunting lodge, far from the bustle of city noise, alone with a beloved person. Dylan’s vocals are saturated with warmth and tenderness, yet the song simultaneously possesses dynamic potential, energy that causes the body to involuntarily move, dance, pulse in rhythm with the music. Dylan demonstrated an excellent sense of balance, adding precisely as many retro elements as necessary to create a cohesive atmosphere, avoiding both pastiche imitation of the past and the feeling of historical dust from outdated techniques.

“Flashbulb Memory” feat. Violeta Vicci demonstrates a completely different approach. The track organically weaves together the sounds of the big city—muted hum of automobile traffic, fragments of human conversations—with soft Asian motifs that gradually come to the foreground, assuming the leading role. Here sound the tones of a zither, barely discernible rustling of leaves, flute, the gurgling of a reed water fountain with its characteristic tapping. Dylan accomplishes a poetic journey, smoothly and with great care leading the listener from the bustling urban cacophony into a space of tranquility. Very meditative.

“In Absentia” surprises with its hypnotic simplicity. The melody unfolds gently, with barely perceptible rhythmic pulse, vocals flow calmly and convincingly. This track creates the impression of a light trance, a state bordering on hypnosis. The melody acts mesmerizingly, riveting attention with its restraint, its inner peace. The vocals function as a complement, emphasizing the uniqueness of the musical foundation—they remain light, tactful, sufficiently captivating to provoke the desire to hear the track through to the end, to try to unravel the mystery hidden behind this apparent simplicity.

“The Shiver” continues the line of the previous track, forming an organic diptych pair. Melodic softness is combined with original vocal processing, creating the illusion of voices sounding from the other side, messages from an alternative reality. This architecture produces the impression of access to another dimension, a reserved space where only a select few might exist. The track stands out for its smoothness, hypnotic effect, and ability to capture and hold the listener’s perception. Special warning: with particular sensitivity of nature, this melody is capable of plunging one into a deep trance. Caution is recommended when listening in states of heightened sensitivity.

“Fourteen Pilgrims over the Sava” closes the album with a soft, hypnotizing work that seems a logical conclusion to all the preceding material. From the first seconds, there emerges a sensation of submerging underwater, of descending to the ocean depths. However, this descent is accomplished without fear, without a sense of danger or suffocation—instead, the listener experiences curiosity, interest in what surrounds them in this underwater reality. Vocal lines function as a background element that periodically “pulls” perception from a light trance, immersing the listener in an alternative reality where one must account for both one’s own interests and the interests of others, where the individual “self” is viewed through the lens of collective consciousness.

It should be particularly noted the circumstances surrounding the creation of this album. It was written and recorded during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic, a time that for most people was marked by heaviness, uncertainty, anxiety about the future. Despite such a context, “Bittersweet Afternoon” radiates light, joy, deep hope for the possibility of a bright future. This is a paradox testifying to the power of creativity as an instrument for transforming despair into beauty. Re-listening to “Bittersweet Afternoon” becomes a ritual, a way to temporarily escape the weight of life’s problems, from the pressure of the necessity to immediately solve all tasks within tight timelines. This is music for meditation, for inner dialogue, for the restoration of psychological equilibrium. Highly recommended!

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