STACK NZ APril 2016 Issue 72

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W hen producer Sir George Martin died
in March, much was made – quite
rightly – of his long association with
The Beatles. What wasn’t made more clear to
a couple of generations of people for whom
The Beatles are a band from the distant past,
was how unusual and almost unique that
relationship was.
Martin was there for just about every Beatles
record over seven enormously productive years,
and in many ways enabled them to realise the
increasingly complex sounds in their heads.
Today artists change producers regularly,
usually to get “other ears” on their music or –
as in the case of U2 and Coldplay working with
Brian Eno, for example – to push them in new
directions.
Over the decades Dave Dobbyn has worked
with many producers, among them Bruce
Lynch (Loyal), David Long (Available Light),
Britain’s Adrian Sherwood and Skip McDonald
(Anotherland), American Mitchell Froom (Lament
for the Numb), Ian Morris (Hopetown) and, in
1995, with Neil Finn for his most interesting and
experimental album Twist.
On that album, all of Dobbyn’s signature
styles were there, but in the studio Finn and
Dobbyn gave them interesting sonic tweaking
(Betrayal, Rain on Fire), added unusual
instruments (Naked Flame), and the two of
them, along with Froom-offsider Tchad Blake,
were credited with “noise.” It still sprung hits
and popular songs in concert (The Lap of the
Gods, It Dawned on Me, Language among
others) but stood apart for
its unusual qualities.
It still stands tall today
in Dobbyn’s extensive
discography.
So it should be no
surprise that he has
invited “other ears” in for his new album
Harmony House; this time Samuel Flynn Scott
and Luka Buda of The Phoenix Foundation (and it
was mixed by Lee Prebble in his Surgery Studio
in Wellington). In their own way they do what
Finn did two decades ago: just tweak Dobbyn’s
signature sound and place his voice in new,
different and sometimes quite arresting musical
settings.
Harmony House – another in his cleverly
ambiguous titles – finds Dobbyn in these
uncomfortable times and his songs address this
world, the world to come, love and the Lord.
The opener Waiting for a Voice sets the tone
immediately. Its lyrics about salvation might
have been peeled from Dylan’s recent songbook
(part narrative, part Biblical vision), and Dobbyn
delivers them with increasing desperation as the
music surges and drives behind him in a wide
sonic palette. When Dobbyn lets out a whoop
you feel it was probably spontaneous as he was
riding the hurricane.
At the other end of the album, the title track
features a hauntingly repetitive rhythm with the
lead guitar mixed high and the voices in unison
like another piece of the musical landscape,
before you notice the whole thing has become
thicker and more claustrophobic. Then it ends
abruptly, like a release.
Between those points the sound of the
album is punctuated by interesting settings
(the widescreen Tell the World, the New Wave
chug of Ball of Light and lyrics which play
off “infidels” and “infidelity,” the gorgeously
dreamy, submerged sound of Submarine Blue,
and the home-recording piano of Too Far Gone
beneath the embellishments).
It is an album of lyrical darkness’n’light
and images from nature (storms, wind-swept
beaches, the fire that cleanses) and his
optimistic spirit is tempered by the realities
of life... yet by the end, the journey has been
one of hope and enlightenment: “Sing through
the storm and you are halfway to Heaven, my
friend,” as he says.
When musicians put their work into the world
they lose control over it and others
will adopt and adapt it to their own
purposes (as happened with Dobbyn’s
Loyal). Sometimes Dobbyn has put his
sentiments to work in ways he knows
will connect with the spirit of the time
(Welcome Home).
Nothing on Harmony House sounds
as if it can be beaten into some other
purpose, or is as obvious as Welcome
Home.
It is a collection of songs which would have
been interesting anyway, written by a mature,
thoughtful artist who also has a mainline to
his pop and rock sensibilities. But he has also
been wise enough to let others have an input
into how they can be realised and elevated (the
gospel choir allusions on the empathetic and
reassuring You Get So Lonely).
Back on Twist, Dave Dobbyn closed with the
lovely piano ballad I Can’t Change My Name.
People of his musical status can’t, but he can
change the context in which he places his
distinctive songs.
With Scott and Buda he has undergone a
quiet, subtle reinvention to keep his music fresh
(for himself and us) and relevant; yet throughout,
he always sounds like Dave Dobbyn. And,
especially given how exceptional this is, you
wouldn’t have him any other away.
Harmony House is his most consistent and
interesting album since, and is perhaps even
better than, the terrific Twist... which you should
also have in your collection.
Graham Reid considers
Dave Dobbyn's new
album Harmony House.
For more interviews, overviews and reviews
by Graham Reid see:
...his optimistic spirit
is tempered by the
realities of life...
visit MUSIC FEATURE
22 APRIL 2016
MUSIC
Magic
what
he do