Dating Godot: I Know Too Much
By Mark Woodley
Another release from the indefatigable Andrew Spittle, the man behind Dating Godot. Having released close to a dozen collections of songs in the last three years or so – an amazing creative output, in anyone’s terms - the man has admirable drive, and a singular vision. Low-key mournful pop abounds, often with a wry wink at the listener as in the opener Debutantes Of The World, a song which begins with an amusing thought about cashing in on the place and method of death, turning into a sad lament about never really being able to capture the time at present. This alienated sense of self and the world continues with perhaps the best song on the album, Standing on Trapdoors, with its get-inside-your-head piano melody and kafka-esque lyrics of a farcical political trial. Picture Start is another beautiful song, with the precursor in brackets that it is ‘a rumination on the death of a childhood sweetheart’ – true or not, it doesn’t really matter, it evokes a nice raw sense of wonder. But in spite of definite highlights, oftentimes on this album the songs meld into another without much significance, leaving the listener with too little to grab at. With a bit of quality control I wonder what Dating Godot could produce. The slow-burning stunner, not quite achieved here?
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