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For many years Dale Grundle has lived in the shadow of Damien Rice.
Much of the mood is similar to Rice’s penchant melancholy, but doesn’t have
the killer tracks to put him up there at the top with his Irish compatriot.
One very attractive element to his work is his bitter-sweet and often achingly
beautiful and fragile voice. Somehow, unless major radio playlists pick up on
something, Grundle is destined to emulate his involvement with former band
the Catchers in the late '90s.
Many of the songs are well-crafted with a charm of their own, but Rice casts
a long shadow over tracks like Setting Fire To Sleepy Towns with
Michelle So’s cello providing the sadness. Lockkeeper’s Cottage has as
similar hue with Grundle picking gently his acoustic while So again adds the
heartfelt colours.
The mould is broken on the beat-driven and jaunty You And Me... while
Macosquin, Coleraine goes more for the Americana template. This one is
punctuated by handclaps and sprinklings of acoustic driving it to the close.
The pace and mood is lifted considerably for radio friendly Clocks and Clones,
making it arguably one of only two that would fare reasonably well as a single.
The other is Human Blues, using a stab start as the song’s hook.
Keys and drums feature heavily as Grundle’s sweet vocal glides magnificently
above the mellow mood. You begin to think that So’s cello is going to deliver
that ‘moment’ Rice has mastered, but never happens which is disappointing.
Nevertheless it’s the best song here.
The last two are his weakest songs by far, and his effort to build up
a crescendo for Islands falls way short of the intended impact. Apart from
Human Blues and Clocks and Clones, nothing really gives you the Wow! Factor.
1. Setting Fire To Sleepy Towns
2. The Lockkeeper’s Cottage
3. You And Me Against The World
4. The Shape Of Things To Come
5. Macosquin, Coleraine
6. Broken Homes
7. Clocks And Clones
8. Human Blues
9. Dressed For Rain
10. Islands
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Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2010.