My Northern Skies (UK)

Eyes Closed, Dreaming is the third installment of Steve Dawson’s ‘pandemic trilogy’, three albums released within a year of one another, and once again packed with quality songs.  The Nashville-based Canadian musician surrounds himself with quality collaborators, notably Allison Russell (Birds of Chicago, Po’Girl) and the legendary Nashville musicians Fats Kaplin and Tim O’Brien, both on mandolin.  “Long Time to Get Old” is reminiscent of any of those classic Ry Cooder songs from the early 1970s, with its assured slide guitar playing, its soulful duetting courtesy of Ali Russell and with a punchy Little Feat rhythm to boot.  The collaborations continue with four co-writes with old pal Matt Patershuk, “A Gift”, “The Owl”, “Hemingway” and “Polaroid”, each immediately rising to the status of album highlights and fighting for the top spot.  Traditional material is also treated with respect as Dawson turns in an atmospheric “House Carpenter”, keeping to the true tenets of balladry, with a steady tension building performance.  Throughout the album the bottleneck guitars, mandolins and fiddles lift each song to place of beauty, while the voices effortlessly hit every mark.  “Small Town Talk” is treated with the same sort of feel as the Bobby Charles original, with those upstate New York curtains still twitching as they were in 1972, whilst a laid back “Singing the Blues” instrumental captures a band of musicians simply enjoying the moment.  Eyes Closed, Dreaming is essential listening, even for those with but a marginal interest in Roots and Americana.