LOOSE MUSIC: Dawes

DAWES

NORTH HILLS

Release Date: 4th June 2012 CD Cat. No.: VJCD197 DL Cat. No.: VJDD197	DOWNLOAD PRESS RELEASE HERE.
Track listing: 1. That Western Skyline 2. Love Is All I Am 3. When You Call My Name 4. Give Me Time 5. When My Time Comes 6. God Rest My Soul 7. Bedside Manner 8. My Girl To Me 9. Take Me Out Of The City 10. If You Let Me Be Your Anchor 11. Peace In The Valley

NOTHING IS WRONG

Release Date: 5th Sept 2011 CD Cat. No.: VJCD194 LP Cat. No.: VJLP194 DL Cat. No.: VJDD194	DOWNLOAD PRESS RELEASE HERE.
Track listing: 1. Time Spent In Los Angeles 2. If I Wanted Someone 3. My Way Back Home 4. Coming Back To A Man 5. So Well 6. How Far We've Come 7. Fire Away 8. Moon In The Water 9. Million Dollar Bill 10. The Way You Laugh 11. A Little Bit Of Everything 12. Strangers Getting Stranger (Bonus Track - LP ONLY)

ABOUT NORTH HILLS

A prequel, if you will, to 2011's critically acclaimed Nothing is Wrong, North Hills is Dawes' first effort, a glimpse at the roots of a now fully grown band. Comprised of 11 soul-bearing tracks, North Hills is drenched with the essence of the band's native California, evoking the mythology of 1970s Los Angeles without compromising their contemporary sound. Hazy ballads like the album's opening tunes 'That Western Skyline', and first single 'Love is All I Am' are balanced with soaring, stadium-ready tracks like 'When My Time Comes,' showcasing the band's dynamic, versatile, and cohesive talent. With swelling harmonies and ambitious guitar solos, rolling bass lines and heartbeat drums, North Hills is an authentic slice of 21st Century Americana.

Dawes emerged in 2009 after the disintegration of Taylor Goldsmith's past project Simon Dawes, which led the band towards folkier horizons. Largely due to night after night of relentless touring, the band, and North Hills, worked their ways beyond the sunny skies of California and into the hearts of America. Best described as an American rock band, Dawes is a group of two brothers, Taylor on guitar and lead vocals and Griffin Goldsmith on drums, joined by two long-time friends, Wylie Gelber on bass and Tay Strathairn on the keys. Their chemistry is natural, infectious and entirely evident on North Hills, which was (like new album Nothing Is Wrong) brilliantly produced by Jonathan Wilson and cut from full-band takes recorded on 2" analog tape - the end result being as close to a live setting as one can preserve.

"If you're writing on a typewriter," Taylor Goldsmith says, "you have to commit to whatever you're writing. Typewriters don't make it easy for you to go back and rethink things. Same thing with recording analog. We don't do it because that's what the people we admire did. We do it because it demands something out of us. It doesn't allow us to show up lazy or not on our game. We cut every track knowing that this stuff isn't easy to edit."

Dawes recently wrapped up their first headlining European tour, including three sold-out London shows. They'll be back for a handful of dates in July, which will include sharing a stage with Bruce Springsteen at Hard Rock Calling in Hyde Park.

PRESS QUOTES - NOTHING IS WRONG

"Dawes' sound is redolent of faded denim, scuffed cowboy boots and hours spent sharing seats on a tour bus" ALBUM OF THE WEEK ★★★★★ THE INDEPENDENT "like early Jackson Browne or Jimmy Webb, albeit with a more knowing, rootsy swagger" AMERICANA ALBUM OF THE MONTH ★★★★ UNCUT "Their strong songs are delivered with serenity and confidence" ★★★★ MOJO "Dawes can proudly count themselves among the best bands to come out of Los Angeles" ALBUM OF THE WEEK ★★★★½ THE SUN "heart-tugging, sun-drenched harmonies and songs that invite you to both lay back and drink in their beauty or punch the sky in delight" ★★★★ THE DAILY MIRROR "It's as close to a perfect Americana album as there's been this year" THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY "the super-tight LA outfit have picked up where the Eagles left off" ★★★★ THE TIMES ★★★★ FINANCIAL TIMES "A force to be reckoned with for years to come" PASTE "Most promising purveyors of new-school country folk …so authentically vintage" ROLLING STONE "Rock solid songwriting and timeliness, uplifting vocals" FILTER "Thank God someone original is plowing forward, we can hitch ourselves to them. Dawes put a smile on my face, reinvigorated me, made me believe what once was, that elusive elixir that hooked me back when, has returned. It's a brilliant start. Climb on board…you create and think nobody is listening. This is wrong. If you're any good, you'd be stunned how many care, how many pay attention. Strive for excellence. It's gonna be recognized." BOB LEFSETZ

UPCOMING UK TOUR DATES 2012

07/07 – T IN THE PARK, Kinross
09/07 – Academy 2, DUBLIN
10/07 – Leaf, LIVERPOOL
11/07 – Scala, LONDON
13/07 – LATITUDE FESTIVAL, Suffolk
14/07 – HARD ROCK CALLING, Hyde Park
15/07 – Bullingdon, OXFORD

LIVE REVIEWS - London, March 2012

"Bruce Springsteen has apparently recently become something of a fan and he would doubtless have recognised something of himself in the rousing anthems songs from Dawes' repertoire have become. "Fire Away", "The Way You Laugh", "If I Wanted Someone", "Peace In The Valley", "Time Spent In Los Angeles", "How Far We've Come" all become essentially an invitation for mass audience participation, the crowd lending their voices to the billowing choruses that are the band's signature sound."
ALLAN JONES - UNCUT

★★★★★
MAIL ON SUNDAY

"one of the best live bands around right now. There's an expectation – hell, a certainty – for great things here."
THE LINE OF BEST FIT