CD REVIEW: DAN BRODIE – Lost Not Found

CD REVIEW: DAN BRODIE – Lost Not Found
Fat Swine Records
August 2017
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
8/10

Melbourne loner Dan Brodie has compiled this collection of mostly radically worked over covers, plus a few originals, that he says were chosen for “their storytelling and emotional power of the lyrics.”

Recorded at his home studio, these versions are radically stripped back into singer/songwriter mode, and most of the instruments are played by Brodie himself.

Brodie finds the raw, dark heart of Bob Dylan’s Standing In The Doorway, Iggy Pop’s The Passenger, and Prince’s Take Me With U, whilst Merle Haggard’s Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down evokes a much darker foray into Paul Kelly territory, and Paul Simon’s You Can Call Me Al – stripped of its cheesy cheeriness – is transformed into a horrifyingly cautionary tale that will challenge the way you hear the original for the rest of your days.

It’s testament to the man that a couple of his own originals are the most profoundly moving here: Words Of A Drunken Man’s sparse piano refrain is gorgeously regretful, and I Ain’t Got Nothing (If I Ain’t Got You) is stunning and full of Pink Floyd-like claustrophobia, Brodie’s brother Chris’s pedal steel line wonderful.

The album closes with a transformative version of Damage Case, drawing hitherto unrealised pain and melancholic beauty from the Motorhead classic.

This is a tough album to listen to in some respects – especially when confronting one’s own demons – but amongst all the ample melancholy and brooding regret on display, and despite the gloomy title, at the centre of it all beats a hopeful heart and a sense that by embracing the many lows in our lives, that we can then move on to better days… hopefully.

Category: CD Reviews