Dracula – Dorys & Eli

Miami’s foremost folk act, Dracula has just released their debut LP Dorys & Eli: an exploration into a pre-pedel-centric time, using intricately harmonized vocals over an acoustic guitar to tug at our heartstrings. Having released several EPs on cassette, Dracula, made up of Eli Oviedo and Dorys Bello, now releases their highly anticipated LP, via Sweat Records Records. Their repertoire of ballads including songs in Portuguese, French, Japanese, English and Spanish, each track more touching than the next.

Performing mostly covers, their reflection on the past somehow creates an air of modernity in an era so technology and gear focussed. It is this simplicity that has garnered them notoriety in Miami’s music circles, their intensely intimate and ceremonial performance style a stark contrast to the majority of other acts. Playing a variety of venues, including the Vizcaya Museum, Miami’s esteemed III Points festival, a cemetery series with roaming arts presenters Spring Break, they can be seen performing kneeling in front of each other, surrounded by roses or before an altar, demanding the viewer’s attention in the quietest of ways.

The album was recorded by Andrew “Le Spam” Yeomanson’s City of Progress Studios, and mixed by Yeomanson alongside Grammy-winning engineer Carlos Alvarez. Dorys & Eli is their first release to feature studio musicians and session players. This includes additional guitar by Oviedo’s father, Manual De Jesus Oviedo, Rainer Davies, with trumpet and additional arrangements by Chas Reskin, and cello by Ashley Garritson from Nu Deco Ensemble / Miami City Ballet.

The subtleties of the bands magic are inescapable, see for yourself below: