Luke Dowler – West
written by Taryn Wallis
of TSWZine
West, a direction evocative of freedom, new frontiers and the courage to expand into and explore them, is an apt title for Luke Dowler’s new EP. Funded via a Kickstarter campaign, it represents his first release as an independent artist after liberating himself from an adverse record deal.
Superficially, West is an EP of five captivating and catchy songs. Dig a little deeper, and it becomes apparent that Luke Dowler is an acute observer of what it means to be both profoundly human and deeply spiritual. The visual imagery elicited through the poetry of the lyrics, coupled with a delivery that is honest and emotional, challenges the listener to consider some of life’s most complex questions as well as provides a safe space within which to answer them.
Firewater Revelation paints a picture of both hopelessness and hope, describing people who, in searching for and not finding real love from an external source, have distracted themselves with those things that provide temporary fulfilment instead. Given this subject matter, you could expect the song to be darker and more sombre, but in fact its upbeat nature conveys a sense of optimism – that the source of love lives within each of us, a small flame that never goes out even when we have given up on it.
Good Enough deals with the experience of giving the absolute best of yourself in a relationship but yet still falling short of the other person’s expectations. While the song is initially quite plaintive, coming across as the questioning of someone feeling beaten down by constant unsuccessful attempts to please another, the last chorus is more forceful and energetic, a reclaiming of one’s own worth and life, independent of the approval of others.
College Towns describes the experiences of nights in college towns and the eclectic mix of people encountered along the way. With everyone in a college town generally being away from home, the song explores the bittersweet tension between the joy of freedom and the longing for the comfort of the familiar.
Hold Up The Sky is a beautiful slower ballad, a love song about the magic and mystery of love, and the wonder that something that can be so fragile can also be so strong.
Halfway looks at the idea of Heaven as being available to us right here, right now, rather than as something that we should aspire to and which is found somewhere else. Unlike the other songs on the EP, this one is quite electronic. It does mask the natural richness of Luke’s voice somewhat, but it is a great song, and makes for a strong upbeat end to the album.
West is due for release on 26 November 2013, and is available from Amazon.com.
We give West 4.5 out of 5
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author Taryn Wallis
TSWZine