Album Review: Richard Dawson - Nothing Important

Dawson plays a nylon-stringed acoustic guitar plugged into a blasted amp and on Nothing Important proves himself the bard du jour for our dark and wasted days. These four incredibly spiked, evocative and prosaic songs are stretched beyond their natural running times – the title track goes for over 16 minutes – and swing pendulously from lyrical emotion (and oft-times vocal cords) flayed bare to distorted instrumental dirge-ridden loopholes without blinking an eye (albeit with the odd reference to Woolworths or barracudas chewing on chrysanthemums). At times deliberately difficult, this is the most rewarding album of the year.