Dorie Jackson - Stupid Says Run

by Zena Grieg

published: 1 / 2 / 2025

Label: Talking Elephant
Format: CD

Colourful fusion of folk, rock and prog on second album from Kaprekar vocalist Dorie Jackson

Review

A much-anticipated follow-up to the 2008 ‘The Courting Ground’, Dorie Jackson’s second album, 'Stupid Says Run', has just been released. Acclaimed for her work as joint lead singer of Prog Rock band Kaprekar and backing vocalist for musicians including Marti Pellow, William Topley, Chris Difford and Francis Dunnery, Jackson displays her imaginativeness and virtuosity as a vocalist and vocal arranger on this new album with intricate, multi-tracked harmonies, carried throughout by Jackson’s trademark storytelling ability. A wide range of themes propel ‘Stupid Says Run’ from folklore, insomnia, cover-ups to losing a loved one to dementia. The songs are a colourful collaboration with fellow Kaprekar band members - Mike Westergaard on keyboards and piano, Mark Walker on drums, Nick Jefferson on bass and Al Nicholson on guitar, with saxophone, flute, G# Bell and whistles input from Jackson’s father, the former Van der Graaf Generator saxophonist David Jackson. Songs to listen out for in this twelve-track collection include: the rousing folk opener ‘Sun Horse’ with its vibrant guitar play, set against Jackson’s rich vocals; atmospheric, reflective ‘The Daylight Gate’ with its reverberating backdrop; the cascading ‘Wild Thyme’; the haunting ‘The Visitor’ with its mournful violin and insinuating beat; the jazz-inflected ‘Paper Chains’; and the closer, the epic ‘The Hypnotist’s Watch’. A fusion of folk, rock and prog, ‘Stupid Says Run’ is an intriguing next step for this talented artist.

Track Listing:-

1 Sun Horse
2 The Daylight Gate
3 Wild Thyme
4 Red Sky
5 Remember Majuba
6 Rise Again
7 The Photo
8 The Visitor
9 Halfway to the Moon
10 Paper Chains
11 Skylark
12 The Hypnotist's Watch