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theslowshow dreamdarling
Artist: The Slow Show
Title: Dream Darling
Genre: Alternative / Indie / Pop / Rock
Release Date: 30th September 2016
Label: Haldern Pop Recordings


Album Review

Manchester, England, has a long tradition of throwing local heroes into the national and international spotlight, be it THE HOLLIES, THE SMITHS or THE STONE ROSES to randomly cherry-pick a trio. But the city seems to thrive musically on sheer diversity, which brings a quietly confident cool to so many bands who hail from there or simply reside there. If the question to a band was “Where are you from”, nobody ever said “Oh Wow” if the answer was Grimsby. THE SLOW SHOW, then, hailing from Manchester but residing seemingly in some smoke filled den frequented by TOM WAITS, THE TINDERSTICKS and half of THE NATIONAL. Sounds like a worthy place to spend an hour, and if the songs on ‘Dream Darling’ constitute the soundtrack, then I’m definitely in. Mournful pianos and Rob Goodwin’s tortured gravelly croon on first track ‘Strangers Now’, evolve magnificently from melancholy to a symphony of choral positivity, with gentle rat-a-tat drums making this the best Christmas song that never was. It’s as if a whole album full of ideas plays out in that opening five minutes, and it`s really very, very good.

On ‘Ordinary Lives’ the sweetness of melody and gently rolling orchestration are in I LIKE TRAINS territory. On weaker material, the vocals would begin to grate, but there`s assurance and a tired, world-weary wisdom in both the words and the delivery. And by the end, you realise again that somehow, without it being in any way obvious, the initial simplicity has burst and bloomed into something unexpectedly epic sounding. It happens again on ‘This Time’, the gently pleaded “Don`t you forget about me” line repeated over a growing swell of sound, filling-out the almost stark, bluesy beginning with colour and texture. Elsewhere there’s the tear-jerker handkerchief-out storytelling of ‘Last Man Standing’ and ‘Breaks Today’, the gorgeous ‘Dry My Bones’ and the simply beautiful choral outro of ‘Brick’, the perfect way to conclude this collection of oddly uplifting melancholic snap-shots of life and love and loss. Surely now THE SLOW SHOW are destined for great things, the depth of talent on show here transcending any town or country or definition of coolness. To create your own world and make yourself King. That’s the real poetry in genuine, heart felt music.


Tracklist

01. Strangers Now
02. Hurts
03. Ordinary Lives
04. Lullaby
05. Dry My Bones
06. This Time
07. Brawling Tonight
08. Last Man Standing
09. Breaks Today
10. Brick


Line-up

Rob Goodwin – Vocals, guitars
Frederik `t Kindt – Keyboards
Joel Byrne-McCullough – Lead guitar
Chris Hough – Drums
James Longden – Bass


Websites

http://www.theslowshow.co.uk / https://www.facebook.com/theslowshow/ 


Cover Picture

theslowshow dreamdarling


Rating

Music: 9
Sound: 9
Total: 9 / 10





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