Paint this vividly in your mind – you're in your 20s, living in Sydney's inner west and it's 2021.
This is the current setting for emerging singer-songwriter, Dominic Breen.With his debut album, 'Blue Volume', out today (1 October), Dominic tells his story with minimal filtering. What you see is what you get with Dom and this record is no different.
"I'm just trying to submit to the idea that uncertainty is a constant and maybe that's the only certainty we get. If you embrace it, you may have a better time!
"This album allowed me to be in control and there wasn't much lost in translation."
With a number of previous singles finding traction on community radio since releasing 'Sydney Kids' and 'The Words' in 2018, 'Blue Volume' showcases ten tracks that reveal Dominic's undeniable musical talent.
Dominic worked with Tim Fitz (Middle Kids) who handled production and mixing duties, while Matthew Neighbour (Matt Corby, The Avalanches) was responsible for the mastering component of 'Blue Volume'.
Dominic explains the album was an opportunity for him to document this current moment in time and to not hold back on the truth, no matter the pain.
"I feel good with the album coming out and it feels like the end of something, but the beginning of something else," he says.
"'Blue Volume' is a timestamp, it is a collection of experiences with some being outright and others being less so.
"It is something to do with vulnerability and being empowered by admitting vulnerability. How you want things to be, but how they actually are.
"I think that is something 'Blue Volume' is trying to demonstrate, not to answer, more to show things as they are in that moment."
Breen is proud to have accumulated plenty of positive responses to his previous releases, receiving praise from triple j's Richard Kingsmill and Declan Byrne, as well as his songs being added directly to major music playlists.
While Dominic remains exceptionally modest, he certainly deserves the plaudits he's receiving. "Putting something out, it bookends a period of time and feelings," Breen says.
"Putting something out makes things real, otherwise it is just inside you."
With all instruments (on 'Blue Volume') either performed by Dominic or Tim Fitz, the lads have created an album brimming with honesty; as Dominic explains, it's his love for a particular type of old-timey music that allows his songs to be soaked in truthfulness.
"I always go back to the folk lineage of soul writers and I always find room to listen to old Irish songs. This is tradition, and with everything changing always, that folk tradition seems to last."
