Doveman - Castles

One of the most amazing things about music is its ability to mould and shape itself into so many new and different forms, some of which can energize you like a shot of adrenaline while others send you to sleep like a powerful anaesthetic. Doveman, a.k.a. Thomas Bartlett and co., have created some surreal music which clearly falls at the far end of the latter category. Their self-described brand of "lamp rock" is some of the most gentle, ethereal music I have ever come across, weaving half-whispered vocals through ghostly piano lines, sleepy guitars and barely audible drums against a backdrop of soft, ambient sounds, to create an intensely subtle musical experience. I'm writing this post in the dark, because there's really no other way to experience the fragile magic of this track.

Doveman - Castles (Removed by request)


There's so much intensity in the silences between notes, it's almost painful to listen to. And Bartlett's voice; an emotional, beautiful whisper that barely carries over the soft tones of piano and acoustic guitar. Sorrow, love, peace, happiness, all wrapped in a cocoon of the most delicate music imaginable. Indescribable.


There's really not much more I can say about this one. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do. If you dig, get hold of With My Left Hand I Raise The Dead (Brassland), half of which consists of spectral instrumental tracks (differentiated only by different numbers of full stops) which are even more sparse than this one at times. Just let yourself slide...

I'm going to sleep now.