Apparently they do still make them like they used to. David Dixon’s debut EP ‘Document The Dark’ swaggers in with a sparkling eyed wink and nod to those that have been begging for a singer songwriter chiseled out from the same godwoken marble as the greats that came before.
It’s music with that something more. That intangible, intoxicating insight into the very core of you. From the very first chord it strikes at a frequency that that awakens something inside your soul that you didn’t know was asleep.
Channelling truly transcendent talent the likes of Drake, Dylan, Jansch, or Banhart, David Dixon bares the broken and bloodied rib cage honesty of the blues over the beating heartbeat of hypnotic guitar licks.
Opening track ‘We Wouldn’t Be’ see’s the rose tinted glasses of a new love smashed under the foot of reality and self-doubt. It is one of the hardest truths to bear to see ourselves through the eyes of another and it is too often the case that even when those eyes are filled with love we cannot linger long enough in their gaze comfortably. The song is driven by the simple strum of an entrancing guitar refrain that is as dreamlike as the lyrics.
‘Seven Suns’ is pure poetry. From the building and ethereal guitar to the stream of consciousness that takes the listener on a refracted prism journey through the cosmos. It plucks on heartstrings that seem to chime in unison with the spiritual and existential themes. Never more aware of the commodification of our eternal soul than with the line “you buy seven nuns and get your priest for free”.
Third track ‘Praia Da Luz’ trucks along on the train track rhythm of the frenetic fretwork of the guitar. Charting the despondency of a travellers heart and the beckoning call of a new potential home, it is a love song to a place and a time. It is bittersweet and beautiful and is sung with the concert hall grandiosity of the greats of bygone eras the likes of Jacques Brel.
With ‘Something Or Other’ we are treated to another glimpse to the poetic monologue that drives Dixon as an artist. The guitar dances and wiggles wonderfully under the never ending questioning of himself and the world around him. As the track progresses and we come closer to answers there is a slow thrumming build of harmony, pitch, and a wall of sound rises up to meet the deep thoughts and perfect pondering. “delicately interwoven continuum beauty of maths…”
‘Raven’ is a song I first heard performed live and still finding its wings in a English field somewhere in the beautiful nest of Dorset many moons ago. I was completely enchanted from the first chord and it’s a melody and chorus that still finds time to soar through my mind to this day. Hearing it fully realised and recorded has done nothing to shake the titular birds place above the chamber door of my soul. Thematically and musically it has a truly magical sense of dreamlike abandon. Give in and find release.
Each song displays a different side of an incredibly talented songsmith and musician. While different they are all refracted parts of a whole and come together in perfect harmony. It is beautifully produced by Jug Jendrix who adds instrumentation, layers, and mixing to a sound that is utterly unique and showcased to perfection in each individual snapshot
David Dixon is an artist that bears so much of himself in each song that he becomes a friend to anyone close enough to listen. His guitar is an extension of his soul and his voice gives so much emotion to the spell woven lyrics that you cannot help but to become ensorcelled.
Words by Matt Miles.
