Dove Ellis’s eagerly-awaited debut ‘Blizzard’ occupies two states. It’s an album that switches between sheer emotion, his vocals cracking while delivering the lyrics, and upbeat jangle, his roots in Irish folk always visible beneath it all.
The opener Little Left Hope immediately signals that Ellis’s strong suit is found in his words, with feeling running through each line. “So carry me to the end / Where the air and the wing are one / A nameless stroke of sun / Until they're memory,” he sings.
There is a sense of poetry to it and, while it’s a gentle curtain-raiser in terms of tempo, it’s narratively powerful and its gentle guitars suggest the influence of Leonard Cohen.
Pale Song follows a similar formula but one-ups its predecessor, feeling more pieced together and carefully crafted.
Love Is seems to begin mid-dream, with soft vocals guiding us into the track before a slightly heavy jam of instruments changes the mood. At first there’s a sense of hope but Ellis pulls back the layers, introducing a dark melody that prompts a moment of reflection before jumping back in.
Jaundice suggests Ellis is an old soul, embracing the folk traditions of his home country, but after the mid-point ‘Blizzard’ takes a bit of a plunge. The closing run of tracks are one-paced and sedate, feeling less emotional and more monotonous. The sequencing decision to end with several sombre moments is almost bleak — breaking them up might have achieved a better balance.
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