RICHARD DAWSON 2020

WEIRD WORLD

For his follow-up to Peasant, Newcastle’s folk auteur turned his keen eye on 21st-century life, singing of racism, soul-sucking jobs, homelessness and mental illness: “It’s lonely up here in Middle England,” he laments on “Jogging”. To match the coarse subject matter, Dawson swapped the harps and strings of Peasant for electric guitar, drums and synths; “Black Triangle”, then, recounts the desperation of a UFO obsessive over wailing metal, while the gruelling “Fulfillment Centre” dissects damaging consumerism over Tuareg rhythms.

ON THIS MONTH’S CD