End of the Middle

Album Notes & Community Reviews

Richard Dawson's 'End of the Middle' is a progressive folk concept album examining the repeating patterns of behavior across several generations of an English family. Inspired by the films of Yasujirō Ozu, the album features a deliberately stripped-back and intimate sound, built around Dawson's vocals and intricate guitar, with Andrew Cheetham's drumming instructed to be exceptionally soft and Faye MacCalman's clarinet providing jarring, chaotic interruptions. The narratives focus on quotidian life, blending the mundane with the supernatural, and conclude with the lush, synth-based duet 'More Than Real,' co-written with and featuring Sally Pilkington.