Tuesday, 8 January 2013

Gareth Dickson - Quite A Way Away



Not Nicked, It Just Is

Commenting on any male folk singer-songwriting guitar player today and the name of Nick Drake will be referenced: I have done so many times. Gareth Dickson’s third album Quite A Way Away is the most deserving of the tag, if that is a sensible verb to use. It is certainly the most apt referencing in how his vocal tone in particular and the pace, as well as deep suspired notes, so uncannily reflect that of Drake.

The guitar work is much more complex. Indeed, the album’s eight tracks are all experimental electro-acoustic guitar soundscapes over which the Glaswegian’s fulsome vocal seems to recite complementary wordscapes. Unless they are atmospheric instrumentals. The guitar is finger-plucked seemingly inside a reverberation chamber creating an expansive sound. Apart from opening track Adrenaline which has a slightly jarring melody and stabbing vocal, the rest of the album is gorgeously soothing. By second track Noon, the ghost of Drake’s voice will haunt with its reminder. 

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