Dave Davies - I Will Be Me

by Lisa Torem

published: 28 / 5 / 2013

Label: Purple Pyramid Records
Format: CD

Extraordinary autobiographical first solo album in six years from ex-Kinks guitarist Dave Davies, which includes guest appearances from the Bloody Hollies, the Jayhawks and Chris Spedding

Review

Ever since Dave Davies created that unforgettable riff in the Kinks' 1964’s ‘You Really Got Me,’ he has set his mind to fusing vividly creative guitar with descriptive lyricism. And although he and brother, Ray, despite sibling friction, synched beautiful music together, you get the feeling from Dave’s repertoire that he was bursting at the seams to express himself authentically and that’s exactly what happened on his new release, 'I Will Be Me'. In this often autobiographical journey, Davies, artfully and painfully, addresses everything from his adolescent rage in being torn away from a true love and how he reacted in ‘Little Green Amp’ to pure unadulterated oneness via ‘Walker through the Woods’ and a haunting epic, featuring sitarist Jonathan Lea on the heartfelt ‘Healing Boy’. Moreover, an unabiding love for homeland is juxtaposed with a shrouded curiosity for Los Angeles on the delightfully detailed ‘Midnight in L.A.’ and his quirky sense of humour comes out in spades on the retro ‘When I First Saw You,’ a tour de force with singer, Geri X, in which a “floppy hat’ covers a realm of emotions. Davies leaps from present to past and back again in his themes and it’s clear that this is a thinking man’s album; nonetheless, the music is never comprised. There’s a healthy mix of slide guitar, rock, sobering riffs and even slivers of country in ‘The Actress,’ in which the committed lover affirmatively toasts the future and remains true despite “cheap perfume”. He makes light of our fast-paced neuroticism in ‘In the Mainframe.’ Davies makes excellent use of his vocal range across the board, and part of the fun is never knowing which texture he’ll use when. His diverse musical efforts are reinforced by a palette of international guests, including the Art, the Bloody Hollies, Oli Brown and the Jayhawks to Chris Spedding. These artists really flesh out and fully execute the varied themes. In 'I Will Be Me', we see, hear and experience the many curious sides of Dave Davies. He’s a thinker, a romantic, a visionary, a homebody, a fight-for-your-life survivor and a riff maker. He sees the beauty in not just the simplest elements of nature, but also through the distorted static of a blown amplifier. Now that’s what’s called art.

Track Listing:-

1 Little Green Amp
2 Livin' in the Past
3 The Healing Boy
4 Midnight in L.A.
5 In the Mainframe
6 Energy Fields
7 When I First Saw You
8 The Actress
9 Erotic Neurotic
10 You Can Break My Heart
11 Walker Through the World
12 Remember the Future
13 Cote Du Rhone (I Will Be Me)