David Karsten Daniels – Fear Of Flying (Fat Cat/Inertia)

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It’s only been a year since Oregon native David Karsten Daniels released his fourth album, so I’d hazard a guess that the majority of Fear Of Flying was written on the road. It’s probably why Daniels’ fifth solo album has beguiling warmth and an organic aesthetic that’ll trick you into thinking you’re sitting in the rehearsal room with Karsten & Co. when you’ve actually just got your headphones on.

Fear Of Flying starts out plaintive and ruminative. Daniels’ voice aches with displacement and heartbreak. “Wheelchairs’ is a languid and sombre way to begin proceedings, but the disc starts to unveil itself as an uplifting experience the more you delve into it. The insistent beat of “That Knot Unties?’ is gorgeously layered with subtle string arrangements, bluegrass ukulele and even a saxophone. Although rather disparate numbers, “Martha Ann’ and “A Myoclonic Jerk’ are reminiscent of Sufjan Stevens’ wide-screen view of pop music. Daniels occasionally reverts to his introspective self, such as on “Everytime A Baby Is Born’ with its elliptical lyrics, and the raw and minimal “The Caretaker’, the yang to the yin of “Wheelchairs’.

Atheism has never sounded so joyful than on “Oh, Heaven Isn’ Real’, which is about… well, that heaven isn’ real. But then why Daniels would choose to close the album with “Evensong’, his own rendition of the Catholic prayer “Our Father’, is a mystery to me. Perhaps he wants to be elusive and capricious – after all, it makes for a deliciously varied and multifaceted listen.

Dom Alessio

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