Album Review

Dawn Landes – Tired of this Life

• 29th Apr 2008

Like Beth Orton singing 70s evangelical classics for the yokels that now surround her in a newly found Campton parish hall, Dawn Landes lovingly warbles along in her ‘filled with sweetness and sorrow tinged light’ kinda way. Such a gorgeous voice and tranquil accompaniment surely add up to nothing short of a sumptuous sounding songstress, right?

Sadly, there’s an obtrusive cheese element that underpins both the undeniably great ‘Tired of this Life’ and the Tom Petty cover of ‘I won’t back down’ on the flipside. Two conflicting messages brought together so successfully is, in its own right, a feat however, with each track accentuating the beauty of its counterpart. The easiness of the delivery and sheer lack of hard edged urgency is somewhat spellbinding, but without landing a solid punch to force the massage home, any sentiment or induced solemnity is all too quickly overcome.

Folk who fully appreciate such talents as Eva Cassidy will love this, whilst folks such as me who grow tired of the inherent schmaltz factor of her music will simply tolerate it 9should they decide to of course).