University Pulse

Borrowed from Buzz Bands:

Dawes, “North Hills” (self-released) — The first album from the new quartet featuring three-quarters of Simon Dawes sneaks up on you like a moment of deja vu. Twenty-three-year-old Taylor Goldsmith crafts elegant folk-pop gems that reveal a remarkably centered songwriter who feels the currents surrounding him but won’t get swept away by any of them. Gentle twang and genteel harmonies give “North Hills” a fireside intimacy that illuminates every word of Goldsmith’s confessionals. In “When My Time Comes,” a tacit admission that he has a lot of life yet to live, he sings “The only piece of advice that continues to help / is anyone that’s making anything new breaks something else.” “Love Is All I Am” might be cringeworthy in other hands, but Goldsmith keeps it plaintive: “I’ve locked up these words / in fear that I’d say them wrong.” Unlike the foursome’s live show, “North Hills” gets a bit strummy at times, but you won’t regret shuffling along. (Expect the album to get a wider release soon, after Dawes signs a deal with a prominent independent label, reported to be ATO.) Recommended.