Album Review

Dan Michaelson and The Coastguards – Blindspot

• 19th Mar 2013

Dan Michaelson first made his name as lead singer of alt rockers Absentee, who released three albums between 2004 and 2008. This is now his fourth solo album, recorded again with The Coastguards, a side project that seems to have taken over. While there are echoes of 2011’s sparse Sudden Fiction, new release Blindspot has a richer instrumental backdrop behind Michaelson’s deep vocals.

With just eight tracks the album comes in at a fairly minimal 33 minutes of music. The focus is Michaelson’s deep and expressive baritone voice which gives everything he sings the sound of a sage pronouncement. At times his vocals are little more than a whisper, yet he always has the knack of giving life and meaning to lyrics that deal in the main with the problematic side of relationships.

Musically the guitar gives the main backing to the vocals, along with some lovely piano lines and quite beautiful pedal steel guitar injections. But occasionally the sound swells to something much bigger as strings or horns give emphasis. What could be a rather bleak album full of melancholic musings actually becomes uplifting because the arrangements are so good.

Opening with No Right Way To Move the tone is set immediately as the opening lyrics are a plea to a departing lover, the strings backing impassioned vocals in real style. You Leave Me In Ruins also shines as the strings and the stirring lyrics combine to give a defiance to the track. Another fine track, Enough sees the piano take the lead but the tone is still one of finding ways of dealing with difficult situations.

Sheets, the lead single from the album, is a tender tale where he offers a lover the chance to establish a hideaway where all their troubles might disappear. Strings swell behind the warm vocal as Michaelson puts all he has to give on the table and hopes that it will be enough. The closing By My Side is given a lovely Americana feel by some wonderful pedal steel work that soars as Michaelson again wears his heart on his sleeve and looks for love.

Blindspot is an album with real depth, and that means it needs to be considered and listened to a few times before you really understand its stark beauty. Dan Michaelson’s lyrics are insightful and perceptive, and his fine voice delivers them in a passionate and resonant fashion. His music will probably never top the charts, but it is well worth taking the time to discover the quality in something just a little different.

Venue: Blindspot
Support Band: State 51 Conspiracy