Review | “Lonesome Echoes”, “Memories of Earth” + “Nightscapes” by David Rothon
A seductive trilogy as bold as it is sensitive, sophisticated and charming
David Rothon is a musician from south London who has been involved in a variety of musical activities over the years, from garage bands to experimental spoken-word projects.
These three records (all released on Clay Pipe Records from 2018 to 2023) are varying in duration yet consistent in style (all instrumental, ranging from a short but sweet four-track EP for the latest release, “Lonesome Echoes” and going up to ten tracks for the first and second LPs, “Nightscapes” and “Memories of Earth” respectively.
Concise as an aesthetic statement, all three releases offer slightly different yet always coherent interpretations of music that can represent proudly many categories of instrumental genres: sometimes their character is cinematic, showcasing a knack for evocative atmospheres, while at other moments Rothon leans into more electronic styles, albeit always maintaining a gentle sound, whose construction is jewel-like, glimmering with minute details, like fragments of field recordings as well as a careful equilibrium of acoustic flourishes, like the rhythm of footsteps echoing under a swooning accordion or an unexpected English horn solo fluttering over a softly strumming folk guitar motif.
The first LP, “Nightscapes” is titled in a self-explanatory manner, much like a vintage library record might declare on its cover the intention of the music contained within its grooves.
Aptly, its fiercely sophisticated music is meant to invoke after-midnight thoughts and moods, suggestive of introspective rumination tinged with a certain bittersweet melancholy. Exuberantly instrumental, their insinuating wordlessness describes everything that words could never.
Says Rothon: “Nightscapes recalls the feelings that are triggered and heightened by the dark hours. Recurring dreams, hypnagogic states, and half-sleep visions. The childhood sense of anticipation for the future that strikes in the middle of the night. The bittersweet feeling of waking up from a dream that has transported you back in time.”
Never maudlin, unfailingly melodic, and tonally inventive, the record not only succeeds as a perfect accompaniment for many a solitary evening, offering solace and tenderness but also surprises the listener with its many soulful moments and lush orchestration.
Next is ‘Memories of Earth’, the second David Rothon LP
In the artist's own words, he was “inspired by the 2019 Moving to Mars exhibition at London’s Design Museum - which created a simulation of a future Martian settlement”
Capturing a childhood fascination with space, drawing on early progressive rock, '70s electronica, and European film soundtracks, this record introduces a synthetic sheen to the now-established preoccupation with sounds consciously designed to induce a soft-focus dreaminess and provide aural comfort.
It's not merely easy listening – there is always a poignant tremble teasing the sonic lightness, akin to a whisper caressing a candle flame, a fluctuation of emotional tone at once romantic and spectral, more haunting than soothing.
Exotica a la Martin Denny rests upon delicate jazz-rock percussion fragments, sub-Moroder sequencers, and Kraftwerk-esque riffs on keyboards that recall late '70s electro-disco obscurities, or a harmonica lending an irresistibly romantic tinge to the vibrato strings running throughout the background.
There are plenty of sonic options on offer, all as delicate and comforting as each other, even when they coalesce into the most reflective of moods.
Last but not least is D. Rothon’s third solo release for Clay Pipe, “Lonesome Echoes”.
This last release is an EP of four beautiful melodic instrumentals, featuring pedal steel, Omnichord, theremin, flute, and live drums – and inspired by the long-lost south London village of Lonesome.
Consolidating the lyrical atmosphere of Rothon's previous records, this short but sweet offering augments the element of playfulness with eccentric arrangements and idiosyncratic instrumentation, proposing a slightly more muscular structure in terms of composition while retaining the overall swooning, daydreaming, enchanting “feeling de sentiment”.
All in all, three magnificent statements of poetic beauty by a major talent of our times. Don't miss.
Text by Panagiotis Chatzistefanou, Berlin, January 2024