![]() ![]() Room 650, Beep Beep Studio, The Box, Wavemaster Studio, Jammin' Planet Studio, MIT Studio, Avatar Studio Jun Senoue / 瀬上純, Gunnar Nelson, Atsushi "SUSHI" Kosugi (Beat On Beat,Inc.) Jun Senoue / 瀬上純, Amir Derakh, Gunnar Nelson, Atsushi "SUSHI" Kosugi (Beat On Beat,Inc.), Fumitaka Shibata / 柴田文孝 Jun Senoue / 瀬上純, Johnny Gioeli, Ted Poley, Gunnar Nelson, Fumie Kumatani / 熊谷文恵, Kenichi Tokoi / 床井健一 But make an album with them? Can’t go wrong.Crush 40 / クラッシュフォーティ, Ted Poley, Tony Harnell, Julien-K, Kay Hanley, Gunnar Nelson, Nikki Gregoroff, Marlon Saunders, Dread Fox, Karen Brake The best songs here showcase them both at the peak of their powers, such as on the epic "Siliphium", which tells the story of plant of the same name, upon which the Roman city of Cyrene built an empire, but also features an extended instrumental interlude, which sees Circle at their ambient, twitchy best. Closer "Pitcher" is a Krautrockian number which even features operatic vocals from the band’s lead singer Jussi Lehtisalo he and Dawson lost in the eye of a storm which seems to cycle upwards until the song’s end. "Ivy", a psychedelic riff on various Greek myths, is adorned with the hammy backing vocals and propulsive guitars in the way of no Richard Dawson song before it. ![]() “I managed to study at the University of Melbourne!” Dawson hollers at the end of one of the songs verses.Īs captivating as the stories of these songs are, Circle are by no means simple accompanists on this record. Dawson seems to have no concern for the thematic tropes of 90% of songs, meaning lyrics about vascular plant researcher Isobel Cookson on opener "Cooksonia" are delivered with the same energy that Ariana Grande sings about an ex. There’s a tune delivered from the point of view of an 32,000 year old seed frozen in the permafrost, and others from lesser known explorers and herbologists. Just like his 2017 album Peasant before it, where all of the stories were set tbetween 400-600CE, so too does Henki riff on a theme: flora and fauna. It’s a sprawling work, the shortest song being six minutes, the longest being over twelve. Just as Dawson clearly relishes being able to record with Circle, so too does the album feel like a treat imparted to the listener in the lead up to Christmas. Circle meanwhile have dabbled in ambient, jazz, krautrock and metal across their three decades, and rise to the challenge of complimenting a singer this verbose on Henki. No Dawson song is alike, and his subject matter spans from murder to jogging. Although the joy of Dawson is mostly lyrical, and Circle largely instrumental, both have a shared history of relentless creativity and reinvention. The two projects - the first a one-man show by a Geordie who uses his animated vocal style to sing songs set in 400CE and Amazon fulfilment centres, and the other a six-piece Finnish band with 32 albums to their name - seem like an unlikely match, but the fact that their styles compliment each other so well should be no surprise. “That’s how important this band are to me”. “It was like being a teenager and suddenly being asked to go onstage with Iron Maiden” he said, of the first time they invited him to perform with them. The album is a collaboration with Circle, an eclectic and experimental Finnish post-rock band who Dawson once claimed to be his favourite of all time. But Richard Dawson, one of few British folk musicians who seems to actually love the isle’s oldest folk traditions, rather than writing rock songs with a banjo, offers a rebuttal to that claim on his seventh studio album. ![]()
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