| | | Ratings (76) |
Give your Rating |
| 4.5 superb | chilledpunkrock | October 11th 19 |
As someone that got into this guy from Peasant, this is certainly a massive change. None of Dawson's albums sound like each other outside of his voice, and on here he indulges in some indie and noise rock with subtle electronics with great success.
3 Bumps | Bump |
| 4.5 superb | robin | October 11th 19 |
work sucks i know
2 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.5 great | Doublez38 | October 16th 19 |
2020 is a semi-experimental folk/rock album, conceptual in its construction, in the treatment of human storytelling, and frankly musically original. Personally it's really not in my taste, because sometimes I love it and sometimes I just find it too weird (in the negative sense of the word), so I don't think I linger on it, even if objectively I admit that it remains a good album. It remains frustrating, because in my ears it often sounds disturbing, not because it is too generic or non-existent (on the contrary), but because his art is too atypical for me
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | ExoskeletalJunction | January 16th 22 |
15th January: Richard Dawson - 2020 (art rock, 2019)
If I ever return to doing yearly music awards (which I might, they are good fun), I think I
might name one after this album. It would be called The Richard Dawson Award for the Album That
Actually Made Me Care About Lyrics. Or something like that.
It’s well documented at this point that I don’t really care about lyrics in my music. I care
about vocals, and the voice as an instrument, and the choice of words can obviously make or
break a melody, depending on whether the words lock in with the shape of the notes, but the
actual content? Don’t know, don’t care. I don’t even know what the vast majority of my
favourite songs are about; nor do I have any intention to learn.
But this album doesn’t let you ignore its lyrics - in part it’s due to Dawson’s full frontal
vocal display, but it’s also the frequent usage of utterly mad lines which you just can’t let
fly by. I’ll confess, it took until my third listen to really notice the lyrics, but the
allusions to Galashiels and Lionel Messi and raising money for the British Red Cross was just
too amusing for me to ignore. It probably helps considering my life situation right now. It’s
been a year since I last lived in Britain, and I’m beginning to miss it a lot. Dawson is from
the northeast, an area I have a lot of love for, and though this record tells tales of sadness
and struggle and frustration, what’s endearing about it is the very English spirit to it all -
the unity in having a rubbish time and finding a way to enjoy it anyway. I live in a country of
saccharine optimism - New Zealand has most of its roots British culture, both England and
Scotland, but instead of embracing the negatives, most people here choose to pretend they don’t
exist. The first time I really sat down with this album and its lyrics I got these incredibly
strong feelings of homesickness - for a place that isn’t my home. There’s so much soul and
heart here, to the point where it’s made me break my own rules on talking about lyrical content
in reviews.
Oh damn, I should probably talk about the music. That’s what I normally do, right? Well, it’s
not as if this is an album that relies on its lyricism to stand up - far from it. Dawson has an
incredible range of influences, but the strongest ones here to me are fellow Tynesiders
Everything Everything, if you could imagine them playing sludgy art rock with strong Comus
influences. He isn’t afraid to veer into serious prog rock at times here, and the off-kilter
avant-folk that characterised his early work is always a part of the musical palette,
especially the fingerpicked guitar. The hooks here are excellent too, somehow managing to fit
insanely catchy melodies into these bizarre and angular chord progressions. Some parts of it
are a touch too avant for my tastes, but there are enough quality melodies here to bridge the
gaps nicely.
7.5 (5th listen)
Bump |
| 3.5 great | zakalwe | November 12th 19 |
The sort of bloke you feel like lobbing a pint glass at during one of those summer folk festivals in places like Leigh on Sea pulls off a blinder of an album due to combining bollocks with everyday relatable tales and good natured wit. British as fuck to boot as well which is always a plus in this day and age.
Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | BeneMaja | December 28th 22 |
| 4.0 excellent | MvdW | November 26th 22 |
| 4.0 excellent | Djang0 | November 22nd 22 |
| 5.0 classic | MmJj | January 12th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | jsegura | February 29th 20 |
| 2.5 average | Yotimi | January 8th 20 |
| 2.5 average | peahat | December 12th 19 |
| 3.5 great | Teo | October 29th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | progsun | October 28th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | greg84 EMERITUS | October 20th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | Corney | October 18th 19 |
| 4.5 superb | Malto64 | October 17th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | chris. | October 14th 19 |
| 2.0 poor | anat CONTRIBUTOR | October 12th 19 |
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