Dylan james Music
(South London)
Monday 16 Dec 2024, 10:41am
Hi I’m looking for guitarist , bassist and keys player to record , rehearse and gig for my next project. DM me. South London based
Last album
https://open.spotify.com/album/4BRv3rjbvyRlk784HnWZaO?si=DLIfVizeQnWV2ildLFr3qg
Insta
https://www.instagram.com/dylanjamesldn/profilecard
London-based Dylan James is a confessional singer-songwriter steeped in the folk tradition, who’s not afraid to make a big statement.
For the last half-a-decade James has been quietly going about perfecting his craft, cultivating a hushed cult following through rare home demoes, whilst shunning interviews, and rarely performing live.
One such devotee was Noah and the Whale’s Matt Owens who on hearing his songs was so blown away that he felt compelled to try and produce his Debut Album. James finally relented…
“Dylan writes with no filter, just these great big searingly honest songs, shot through with such poetic beauty, delivered by such gorgeous melodies, you can’t resist being taken along with him.” Owens added “They’re the most realised batch of timeless songs I’ve heard from anyone for a long, long time! “
His songs are not of the folk of yore however, nor a litany of Rock’n’Roll cliches. No, James chronicles the home truths he encounters in the day-to-day, the grind & ennui of modern life his bread and butter, whether it’s the latter stages of foiled marriages, drunken failings, broken dreams, world-weary determination or battle hardened parental commitment. It’s these seldom explored topics that make his observations hit all the harder, and garner him such integrity & conviction.
The record cut at Somerset’s White Noise Studio & Manchester’s legendary Airtight studio featuring James Besley on drums (James Warren, Little Mammoths) & Scandinavia Chanteuse Camilla Skye on vocals, sounds instantly modern, with a nod to the great 90’s Brit Pop records of lost youth, blended with the seminal, lo-fi singer-songwriter records of the 1970’s. It’s delivered in James’ instantly recognisable cracked baritone, peppered with hints of Liam Gallagher, whilst reminiscent of a British Paul Westerberg, and framed by understated, raw instrumentations -gnarly electrics, woozy harmonicas, fizzing old synths and chiming pianos nestling alongside each other.
It’s an idiosyncratic record, from an idiosyncratic artist, not pandering, or trying to assimilate, every one of it’s 10 songs just as vital as the last.
As Owens remarked, “they just don’t seem to make albums like this anymore- so I’m very much glad we have!”