ALBUM REVIEW: Richard Dawson – End Of The Middle

Weird World

Released 14.2.25

In his rich and varied career, Richard Dawson has oscillated through different styles and forms with considerable success. End Of The Middle is an amalgamation of everything he does best without resorting to repetition, and contains some of Dawson’s most straightforwardly enjoyable songwriting to date. 2011’s Magic Bridge is this record’s closest relative, although EOTM’s sonic palette is enhanced by some pleasingly deranged saxophone playing and the synthetic softness of closer More Than Real. Narratively,Dawson slips into the first person narratives which made 2020 so compelling; melancholic impressionism peppers every corner of the landscape. The Question features superlative melodic guitar playing, Gondola deals with mortality and memory in a profoundly humorous and understated way, and lead single Polytunnel observes beauty in slow progress.