Album Review: Rory J Dawson - While Away

19 April 2017 | 3:55 pm | Brynn Davies

"Not quite happy, definitely not depressing; just a little lonely."

On the emotionally tactile spectrum of 'good' and 'bad' days sits the thread running through Rory J Dawson's While Away EP - a forgettable mundaneness, with a shadow of melancholy slightly clouding the edges.

Each of these four autumn-tinged tracks have a comforting quality - think Simon & Garfunkel's America or Kansas' Dust In The Wind - not quite happy, definitely not depressing; just a little lonely.

Dawson's considered acoustic compositions are enhanced by his mature (if not slightly nasal) vocals and classic folk harmonies. Wholly seductive and elegiac in its commonplace musings - "Now today didn't go exactly as I planned / Can we try at least that last bit again?" - he successfully avoids cliche or melodrama, reminding us that it's alright to while away a day.