Last time I wrote about music from Phil Dean he was a folk-rocker from Gelong. Now he is an indie kid from The Shire…well, Waikato, New Zealand, to give it its proper name. Okay, that’s a bit simplistic, but not altogether untrue. So what does it all mean? Maybe you can’t keep a good man down, or that music makers always find their way back to their muse. Maybe it means that people make the style of music that feels right for the moment, or merely return to their roots. It also reminds us that only punters and journalists expect creatives to stay in their lane, rather than naturally exploring all manner of sounds and styles; are they not free to change their sonic trappings just as readily as we change our clothes?
So, Holding On comes from a more indie, occasionally new wave place, but it isn’t hard to feel the influences of artists such as Neil Young in its melodic and no-nonsense songwriting chops and even The Mighty New Model Army (to give them their full title) in some of its feel of elemental earthiness and rock and roll weight.
‘Giving It All Away’ kicks off in fine style, a real rock groover, full of pace and purpose, a juxtaposition of raw guitar and chiming piano, a musing on travelling light and chasing dreams that lie in the unknown ahead of you, I think. Recent single, ‘Oh My God’ is the sort of indie anthem that any of the K bands would love to have written…K standing in for Killers, Kasabian and Kiaser Chiefs.
‘Slipping Away’ is where the post-punk-pop vibes really kick in, thanks to synth washes that sweep through the background and a sort of restless guitar energy, and the title track takes all the elements we have so far encountered and blends them into a gentler sonic sea – old school analogue meets digital dexterity in a warm embrace.
Holding On signs off with the jaunty, up and at ‘em, cockney geezer vibes of ‘Expecting to Fly’ and finally ‘Ringing the Bells’, a slow-burner taking us from understated acoustica to a gently anthemic crescendo… if there is such a thing.
It may have taken Phil Dean a decade to release new music; that’s life for you, and without life, you’d have nothing to write about, but these are great songs, and Holding On has definitely been worth the wait. And as debut albums go, new chapters don’t kick off any more exciting and enticing than this!
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