“At the Dog Days” is a songwriting workshop that takes place every year in a rustic, tree-lined park in Northern Virginia. In 2017, it was hosted by Robert Baker, a New York band member whose wine-colored beard and notebook strewn with stray ink and crayons had eclipsed the evening's festivities. The theme this year was "The End of the American Dream," and the opener song, "Death," is a plaint for the future. Its refrain is "When the dream dies/ The dream dies," and it is an urgent statement. "We keep pushing forward/ The dream is what we keep asking for/ And the dream keeps fading away," its refrain echoes. It is the dream of the American dream. The theme

But “At the Dog Days”, the line between music and art is constantly shifting, and the line between the political and the musical is blurry. When Heather Philipson's voice cracks out over the music, you can smell the odd strain of paranoia, as if she's digging for something that hasn't been discovered. It's a strange juxtaposition, a wordless scream from a woman who sees no end in sight. But the most unexpected thing about “At the Dog Days” is how much of the album has been made from a single, simple chord, the only thing that stands out from the crowd. It's just sea salt, blue skies, a burning candle. It's the quiet before the storm.