Album introduction time! This time it’s a slice of life, an invitation to spend a day with the artist. Lots of pure unfiltered thoughts laid out in well-written lyrics and simple yet warm melodies, it’s a story of a working person’s daily life with all it comes with. Read on to learn more about the release and its creator!
This is Dale McPhail, a Scottish singer-songwriter and a book publisher. Working during the day as a firefighter, Dale’s training includes keeping emotions strictly at bay – a necessary skill to do the job well. However as a sensitive creative soul, Dale needed an outlet for his inner thoughts. Having been playing music for years, he knew the healing power it held, a potent platform for self-expression. And thus he started writing and releasing music, his way of venting out the feelings and helping him breathe easier.
“First-time listeners should expect honest, sincere, and (hopefully) interesting songwriting. I want people to come away from this EP feeling like they know me a bit better, it’s been a brilliant way for me to express myself and I hope it will inspire others to do the same.”
Dale has already released a single called “My Town”, described by the artist as an anti-folk song. This song reflects on the laborious and boring days the artist spent working at a sheet metal factory. The lyrics tell the story of a hypothetical kind, looking at how the artist’s life would be like if he never managed to get out of that factory. The yearning emotions interwoven by numbness and feeling too insignificant to have a speaking voice, this song hits on a painful nerve for anyone who has experienced working in a factory.
The release of “My Town” announced the imminent arrival of Dale’s first EP. Today, the waiting is over and Dale’s debut EP is out in its full glory!
The eponymous EP is home to 5 tracks, each of them carrying an own story about Dale’s life as a working-class man, looking into the dark and light sides of things in equal attention. The single “My Town” is the first one on the tracklist with little changes added in. Beginning with the whistling of a kettle (that also happens to sound specifically metallic), and ending with a kiss and closing door, Dale has completed the story of an unhappy person stuck working the job he doesn’t like. Pretty accurate representation of what could be going on in the worker’s mind during the seemingly endless workday.
The second song is “Type A/B”, a considerably happier-sounding tune with vibrant guitar and 4-on-the-floor beat. And it is a very happy song – a story of marrying the right type of person, the kind that makes living more exciting than ever. A small note is made about people, who feel marriage shouldn’t be this fun – they must have made the wrong choice to say so, the artist feels. By the end of the song, we’re on a car ride. Where to, this question will be answered very soon!
The next song to follow is “Box”, referring to that pit within the person’s soul which is full of troubled and sad emotions. It’s a soft melodious song with emotional lyric-writing, as Dale reflects on the saddening things he had seen recently as well as the advice to keep pushing on even when it’s difficult to continue. His wish for the box to stay closed is soon followed by car door noises and walking to the sea along a sandy path – “Beach”. First joined by gentle guitar playing which abruptly stops, the song then expands into summery joyous instrumental music. And soon enough, this song ends up in the water as Dale goes in for a swim.
Last song is humorously titled “Drunk Submarine”, continuing with the beach theme, but at the same time it adds a certain note of sadness. It’s a song about wanting to be on your own, just yourself and the sea, looking for that inner strength to carry on after life has mistreated you. And in the end, reassured and headstrong, the artist reaches back home greeted by his wife.
“Dale EP” is to be released as a cassette, on which Side A will hold the musical side – the 5 songs described above. Side B is going to showcase the artist’s love for short fiction, thus you’ll will find an original audio story “The Tallest Tree In The World” on that side.
“The EP is a tool I’ve used to process my everyday life. Side A is the reality side, where I celebrate all aspects of living, both good and bad. It’s a story told through songs and recordings of me taking a wee visit to the sea.
Side B is where all my daftness goes. I have a job that requires me to be quite serious from time to time and side B was my place to completely ignore that. Side B is the polar opposite of side A. Side B is side A’s, weird pal. Together they make this EP and I hope it resonates with anyone who listens.“
Don’t forget to support this project and to follow on Instagram, Twitter, SoundCloud, and Spotify. You can also check out his linktr.ee. If you enjoy his music and are able to provide monetary support, you might consider downloading it on Bandcamp.
You can obviously find it in the following Playlists: Less Than 1,000 Followers, Indie Only, Chill – Folk – Acoustic, Debut Bands (Off The Radar), and 12 New Songs This Week.
P.S. If you enjoy discovering new artists and fresh new music you can subscribe to this blog Less Than 1,000 Followers and follow the Playlist with all the artists that we have presented here!!!
This coverage was created via MusoSoup #Sustainablecurator