{"title":"Richard Dawson","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"richard-dawson-end-of-the-middle","title":"RICHARD DAWSON  -  END OF THE MIDDLE","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe title of Richard Dawson's new album \u003cem\u003eEnd of the Middle \u003c\/em\u003eis a suitably slippery contradiction, one that invites multiple interpretations: Middle-aging? Middle-class? The middle-point of Dawson's career? The centre of a record? Centrism in general? Polarisation? The possibility of having a balanced discussion about anything? Stuck in the middle with you? Middle England? Middling songwriting?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eEnd of the Middle \u003c\/em\u003eis a wonkily beautiful peer into the workings of the family unit, perhaps several generations of the same family: \u003cem\u003e\"I wanted this record to be small-scale and very domestic\"\u003c\/em\u003e, Dawson explains, \u003cem\u003e\"to be stripped back, stark and naked, and let the lyrics and melodies speak for themselves and for the people in the songs\"\u003c\/em\u003e. By paring things right back what is revealed is a suite of remarkably poised, oddly elegant, beautiful music.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Domino Records","offers":[{"title":"12\" RECORD","offer_id":54991996289410,"sku":"DHR-03374","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0556\/2800\/5583\/files\/71e56563e5a7dc448da694f2781b62fb.jpg?v=1772730056"},{"product_id":"richard-dawson-peasant","title":"RICHARD DAWSON  -  PEASANT","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNo listener to Dawson’s earlier music has ever discerned a lack of artistic ambition. Whether they got on at the last stop - the 4 track Tyneside-Trout-Mask-through a-Vic and Bob-filter of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eNothing Important\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e - or earlier in the journey, with \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Glass Trunk\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e’s visceral song cycle or \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Magic Bridge\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e’s sombre revels, devotees of his earlier recordings will be at once intrigued by and slightly fearful of the prospect of a record that could make those three landmark releases look like formative work. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003ePeasant\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is that album. From its first beguilingly muted fanfare to its spectacular climax exploring a Dark Ages masseuse’s dangerous fascination with a mysterious artefact called the Pin of Quib, it will grab newcomers to Dawson’s work by the scruff of the neck and refuse to let them go until they have signed a pledge of life-long allegiance. Driven forward by exhilarating guitar flurries, Qawwali handclaps and bursts of choral ferocity, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003ePeasant\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e’s eleven tracks sustain a momentum worthy of the lyrics’ urgent subject matter. Dawson describes the themes of these songs as “Families struggling, families being broken up by circumstance, and - how do you keep it together? In the face of all of these horrors that life, or some system of life, is throwing at you?” The fact that these meticulously wrought narratives all unfold in the pre-mediaeval North Eastern kingdom of Bryneich - “any time from about 450AD to 780AD, after the withdrawal of the Roman Empire”- only makes their contemporary relevance more enduring and vital. Dawson’s objective was to create “A panorama of a society which is at odds with itself and has great sickness in it, and perhaps doesn’t take responsibility – blame going in all the wrong directions”. But encountering Peasant’s captivating sequence of occupational archetypes (\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eHerald, Ogre, Weaver, Scientist\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e), listeners might find themselves wondering if these multitudes could somehow be contained with one person - surely we all have a ‘Shapeshifter’ and a ‘Prostitute’ within us?\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Domino Records","offers":[{"title":"12\" RECORD","offer_id":56444002107778,"sku":"DHR-06193","price":25.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0556\/2800\/5583\/files\/01edb8b8430dca784391957b78465412.jpg?v=1772729805"},{"product_id":"richard-dawson-the-ruby-cord","title":"RICHARD DAWSON  -  THE RUBY CORD","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReleased: 18\/11\/22\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePop in your earpiece, close your eyes and embrace the wonders (and horrors) of augmented reality and prepare to travel 500 years into the future as Richard Dawson returns with¦\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Ruby Cord\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e. These seven tracks plunge us into an unreal, fantastical and at times sinister future where social mores have mutated, ethical and physical boundaries have evaporated; a place where you no longer need to engage with anyone but yourself and your own imagination. It's a leap into a future that is well within reach, in some cases already here.¯\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Domino Records","offers":[{"title":"12\" RECORD","offer_id":56444005417346,"sku":"DHR-06192","price":25.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0556\/2800\/5583\/files\/b0dce3069813ef8bea4a4e117ee14207.jpg?v=1772729910"}],"url":"https:\/\/dreamhouseldn.com\/collections\/richard-dawson.oembed","provider":"Dreamhouse Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}