Richard Dawson will release a new album, End of the Middle, on February 14 via Weird World / Domino. “I wanted this album to be small-scale and very domestic,” says Dawson, whose last record was a widescreen concept album made with Finnish experimental rock band Circle. “To be stripped back, reconnect with the basics and let everything speak for itself – to be really stark and naked by just putting the words and melodies out there.”
The domesticity comes through in the album’s first single, “Polytunnel,” which is about gardening, though darkness lingers around the edges. “I think I know what’s happening in the song, but hopefully that’ll be different for each person listening,” Dawson says. “I like that the line ‘Out the gate and down the lane’ – it could mean going down the allotment, or it could mean going somewhere else. Tunnel is obviously a very loaded word. There’s possibly a lot of drama happening outside of the lines of the song…. Or not. It might just be a song about an allotment.”
You can watch the video for “Polytunnel” below.
End of the Middle:
1. Bolt
2. Gondola
3. Bullies
4. The question
5. Boxing Day sales
6. Knot
7. Polytunnel
8. Removals van
9. More than Real