Dodson and Fogg - The Sea of the Night

  by Malcolm Carter

published: 8 / 11 / 2022

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Review

‘The Sea Of The Night’ is the latest addition to the ever-growing catalogue of music Chris Wade has issued under his Dodson & Fogg alias. Wade has never stood still with his music. While as soon as his laid-back, dreamy vocals are heard it’s instantly obvious it’s Wade singing and his incredible guitar skills are also recognizable, there’s always a little diversion, the unexpected, with every album. Wade has managed over thirty albums as Dodson & Fogg in the space of about ten years. That’s an incredible body of work and doesn’t include his various other musical projects, his acclaimed books or his surreal, must-see films. ‘The Sea Of The Night’ is predominantly an instrumental set of pieces. We don’t get to hear Wade’s vocals much at all. The instrumentals are interspersed with spoken word tracks from Nigel Planer, Brian King, Tony Law and others. Names that will be familiar, especially to those who have followed Wade’s work. The poems are taken from a book that Wade produced to accompany the album using the same title. While the music was the main attraction here, we can’t just ignore the book. Wade has proven in his various writings that he’s worthy of the title author; he’s covered a wide range of topics in his books and they always make for compelling reading. But with this set of poems he’s set his bar even higher. While his music is accepted and understood by a broad audience and his books also appeal to many, it could be said that Wade’s films and poetry are more specialised and are possibly only understood and appreciated by a smaller section of people. Surreal yet oddly compelling is this writer’s take on that side of Wade’s talent. Surreal this collection of poems may well be at times but, like his music, they draw you in, inspire you and possibly tap into a part of you that you maybe suppress for whatever reason. They make you think. ‘Bonfire Night’ , one of the poems (read by Nigel Planer) which features on the album and in the book, is so vivid I’m standing in that garden reliving a cold November night. Why when Planer says “all fifteen of them” about the neighbours does it hit something deep inside of me? It’s a wonderful poem, brought to life with atmospheric music and effects and Planer reads it magnificently. There are eight poems on the album; seven appear in the book and while Wade’s music adds another dimension to the spoken word (and never distracts from the poem) there’s something about just reading the poems and losing yourself in Wade’s vivid prose making that a more intimate experience. ‘Early Winter Day’ (read by Brian Pettifer) is accompanied only by chirping birds which accentuates the chill conjured by Wade’s words so there are occasions when the album wins. ‘The Train In The Distance’ (read by Norman Eshley) is another example of how Wade has perfectly added sounds and injected his poems with even more colour and life. The music then ; the album opens with ‘The Sea Of The Night’ and instantly we are in Wade territory. Ricky Romain is back with his sitar! A more effective and welcome beginning to a Dodson & Fogg album is hard to imagine. It’s a chilled-out instrumental, Romain’s sitar and Georgia Cooke’s flute are a marriage made in heaven. A gorgeous blissed-out four-minute piece that will wash away all your worries. This is Wade at his very best and why we shake our head and wonder why isn’t this guy more accepted? ‘The Bulls’ is Wade reminding us once again why he must be the most underrated guitar player in the land. A nagging acoustic guitar that will be swimming around your head for days, it’s another piece for when we want to forget the problems around us and just float away. ‘The Valley Of Debt’ is up there as one of the prettiest tunes Wade has released and there have been many. Another gorgeous acoustic guitar showcase. The same could be said about ‘Gypsies Of Malaga´ before ‘What A Day’ finds Wade fleshing out the sound with flute, bass and various other sounds. Again it shows that Wade is a master at creating memorable melodies. It’s an absolute stunner. ‘Awoken By A Smash’ is Wade back in electric mode ; as compelling as his acoustic pieces are a Dodson & Fogg album wouldn’t be complete without Wade’s searing electric guitar making an appearance. We are once again left wondering what Wade has to do to get a wider audience appreciating just how skilled this guy is on guitar. It’s on the penultimate track, ‘Somebody Else’ before we get to hear Wade’s vocals for the first time on ‘The Sea Of The Night’. It’s typical Wade; his world-weary/dreamy vocals are all the more effective from leaving their appearance so late in the set. That distinctive Wade electric guitar makes a welcome return and somehow it blends in nicely with all that has gone before. The words also appear in the book of poems. The album ends with ‘The Road’ a reflective instrumental which finds the listener walking along a tree-lined endless road which is the perfect end to an album where Wade combines two (just two) of his many talents. It’s been said before that whatever album was Wade’s newest at the time was his best work to date. It can be said about ‘The Sea Of The Night’ as well. Maybe it’s the addition of the book of poems ( which comes as a pdf if the digital version of the album is ordered from https://wisdomtwinsbooks.bandcamp.com/album/the-sea-of-the-night ) that makes this album so special or maybe it’s just because Chris Wade is so talented that no matter what he releases we can be sure it’s going to impress. Wade doesn’t just make good albums; he makes great albums and has yet to disappoint.

Track Listing:-

1 The Sea of the Night
2 Early Winter Day (read by Brian Pettifer)
3 The Bulls
4 Bonfire Night (read by Nigel Planer)
5 The Valley of Debt
6 Monologue of Gluttony (read by Brian King)
7 Gypsies of Malaga
8 The Train in the Distance (read by Norman Eshley)
9 What A Day
10 That Silhouetted Diner (read by Tony Law)
11 Awoken by a Smash
12 Moths (read by Brian King)
13 Leaving the Church (read by Tony Law)
14 Somebody Else
15 The Road

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dodson-
https://twitter.com/dodsonandfogg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodson_an
https://wisdomtwinsbooks.bandcamp.com/
http://wisdomtwinsbooks.weebly.com/dod

Label Links:-

http://wisdomtwinsbooks.weebly.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dodson-
http://wisdomtwinsbooks.weebly.com/dod
https://twitter.com/dodsonandfogg
https://www.youtube.com/user/sofaguard