Album Review

Nic Dawson Kelly – Old Valentine

• 23rd Oct 2009

There’s retro and there’s retro and there’s Nic Dawson Kelly. The singer-songwriter’s debut is full of songs with that could-have-been-written-forty-years-ago feel. That’s not to say Old Valentine lacks originality, Kelly’s singing voice alone – cracked, hoarse, yet very capable of carrying a sweet melody – gives the songs a unique sound.

The most obvious influence on Kelly – explicit in his fondness for harmonica but colouring to varying extents a few of the efforts on Old Valentine – is one Robert Zimmerman, but the songwriter’s sound could be described as a melange of sixties pop and rock influences channelled through his idiosyncratic charm. It’s a sound that’s impressively fresh next to the many much-less-interesting acoustic acts that have clogged up the album charts in recent years.

Songs like the qurky ‘The musician’ and the wonderfully downbeat ‘All the pretty bullfighters’ make Old Valentine a compelling listen for fans of original songwriting, and the production work – a bare bones approach – gives the vibe of a great live acoustic performance and makes the most of the raw sincerity of Kelly’s vocals.