Dan Patlansky -Dear Silence Thieves
I have just had my first listen to an album that I already know will be in the final shakedown when I come to select my records of the year for 2015.
The album; Dear Silence Thieves, the artist; Dan Patlansky. 10 tracks and 55 minutes of sheer unadulterated musical splendour that has had me immediately reaching for the replay button. A measure of my desire to get a hold of the album in advance of its official release on 27 April evidenced by the fact that I have downloaded it and you lot know me, I don’t do downloads.
Dear Silence is not a Blues album, not a Rock album or a Blues Rock album it is a richly coloured palette of all of the above with the addition of some radio friendly pop sensibility.
By Dan’s own admission this time round he has concentrated on the songs as a whole not using them as a mere vehicle for his exceptional guitar skills and wow how he can now sit back and say objective achieved. The way this piece of music art has been created is masterful, ebbing and flowing as the sounds erupt and fall away. Just listen to the way it all kicks into gear on the snarling venomous Backbite. Heavy rhythm section laid under hooky slashing riffs and the first of a salvo of fiery punchy Patlansky solos.
Then the band go way down deep on the moody menacing Pop Collar Jockey, dense rhythm section vibes pulse away under a filthy distorted riff and echoed rasping vocal and the incessant groove is then speared by a taut edgy solo. Hold On maintains the brooding atmosphere structured on another grinding rhythm section sequence and a vocal that starts raw then gradually mellows as Patlansky’s equally mellow guitar licks flourish and before the tune is done in comes a short but soaring solo that just keep rising.
One foot is firmly planted in Blues territory with the shuffle drenched Taking Chances, this one sounds like the band just had a whole lot of fun cranking this one out at pace. The guile of the album’s construct is evidenced perfectly by the juxtaposition of the ensuing contrasting delicacy and acoustic beauty of Windmills and the Sea. Lilting flurries from Patlansky’s acoustic guitar and textures added by the drum and bass notes and the vocal, cracked but infinitely melodious, a really ambient sound that floats along beautifully.
Swift gear shift as the band switch into the smooth Bluesy hues of Only an Ocean with an incessant rhythm section vibe lying right under Patlansky’s choppy clipped hooks and a searing solo to boot. Shades of Bonamassa on this one for me. Your War placed at track 8 really is the centrepiece of the album, a sprawling swirling cacophony of rich sounds that flicker away like the flame on a candle. The fractured hurt vocal falling over the plucked single guitar notes gradually laying the foundations for fretwork of stunning precision and feel from Patlansky. It is all here, sustain, echo, string bending building and building to an absolute zenith of power and emotion.
Instantly love the slam dunk funk of Feels Like Home with its thumping groove, gnarly vocal and the chopped clipped riffs that plug away, another one that just screams ‘fun to play.’ The band take it right down to close out with another sublime piece of balladry on the interestingly titled Madison Lane, a place or a person? Whatever it is it is another example of musicianship of the highest order that is best allowed to just spill over you like a gentle shower of rain.
Patlansky has been honing his craft and carving out a name for himself in his native South Africa, with an album as strong as this and airplay on rock radio stations like Planet Rock surely it is time the man’s talents are recognised and his career moves to the next level.
The man is about to embark on a short UK tour and I now have a great sense of anticipation to be front and centre at The Borderline on the release date for this terrific album.
