Richard Davies

Telegraph

Flydaddy

Australian native Richard Davies has emerged from his early garage-pop band the Moles and his critically acclaimed follow-up group Cardinal, a one-off project with arranger Eric Matthews, as one of the more compelling songwriters of our day. His songs have been compared to those of psychedelic pop archetypes such as Love, the Beach Boys circa Pet Sounds and Nick Drake, but with his second solo album, Davies once again takes his collection of familiar rock baggage to fresh, new destinations. With a spare production similar to that of his solo debut, 1996's There's Never Been A Crowd Like This, Davies (with help from guitarist and co-producer Ronald Jones, of the Flaming Lips) keeps the spotlight on his songs and their essential presentation ingredients: Davies's vocals and self-harmonies, and delicate acoustic guitar strums. Embellishments from piano, a bit of horns, electric guitar and a subtle rhythm section only support the wistful moods concocted by the songs, and poetic phrases such as "In the end, all my blues are red again" ("Crystal Clear") echo the tone. Even decorated in the spangles and jangle of the psychedelic era, Davies's songs are never overcome by their retro attitude, instead marking the clear self-expression of a songwriter and performer at the top of his game.

Written by Lydia Vanderloo, CMJ New Music Monthly, May 1998.

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