Richard Dawson at The Stoller Hall
Johnny James, Managing Editor
Experimental folk artist Richard Dawson is no stranger to big musical ideas – from opening his 2022 album with a 41-minute odyssey to writing from the perspective of a seed in collaboration with the Finnish experimental rock band Circle. But his new work hits different, stripping things down to the bare bones to reveal the songwriting at its core.
And that’s no daft move when you can write a tune as well as Richard Dawson. Indeed The Guardian declared him no less than “Britain’s best songwriter”. That was in reference to his state-of-the-nation album 2020, which saw the Newcastle artist, then known for gnarled experimental folk, add hooky pop elements into the mix as he spun crushing stories of a benighted Britain.
The pop alure didn’t last long, though. 2022’s The Ruby Cord opened with a gargantuan, 41-minute track, ‘The Hermit’, preceding an album billowing with a fog of sickness, trauma and mute inevitability as he envisioned a distant future dominated by virtual realities. Following his most successful and accessible album (2020) in this manner felt like a statement of intent: Richard Dawson just does what he feels like. And you’ve got to respect that.
So what’s the vision for the new album, End of the Middle, which drops 14 February?
“I wanted this album to be small-scale and very domestic,” he explains. “To be stripped back, reconnect with the basics and let everything speak for itself – to be really stark and naked by just putting the words and melodies out there.” With no big arrangements or lavish productions to hide behind, and with every tiny detail emphasised, you have Dawson at his most exposed, and a platform for his tunes to really shine.
The album deals with small-scale domesticity, bringing the everyday banalities of the family home to life in rich detail, while – and this is one of Dawson’s real skills – extracting a great deal of poignancy and emotional punch within these confined stories. “Even when there isn’t much room for a character to speak you still must go all the way with them”, Dawson says.
We’ve heard two singles so far. ‘Polytunnel’ warmly depicts a gardener engaged in the noble, calming, mysterious business of raising vegetables whilst dealing with illness. ‘Boxing Day Sales’ is a wonky pop number that contains anti-capitalist depth despite its seemingly shallow waters. Dawsons describes it as “like a pair of novelty socks, some Lynx Africa, or a daft plastic puzzle you get on Christmas morning and then chuck in a drawer for the next 10 years. I wanted it to be the most throwaway and lightweight triviality of a thing.”
“It’s the end of a phase for me,” says Dawson about finishing this album. “I don’t understand it but I feel it. I have to change my shoes shortly, see where they take me next. But I had to do this first… just to be a simple song-maker…. As direct as possible… and gather up a bunch of these little songs for kindling. There’s a good soundbite to finish with”.
Richard Dawson is playing two shows at The Stoller Hall this spring. The 23 April date is sold out, but there are still some seats up for grabs on 24 April.
