David Foster is the driving force behind this band called Daidrum. This name is composed of David's nickname when he played drums in a Welsh rockband. The info sheet talks about progressive rock with psychedelic and folk influences. I fully agree with the latter, the folk influences are abundant partly due to the frequent violin playing of Chris Haigh. The Foster family is trying to recover from a great tragedy, the loss of the oldest daughter but this album was already complete before this happened. The band is completed by Hannah Foster on flute and backing vocals and Emely foster, Hannah Johnson and Layla Aermini on backing vocals. The rest is played by David himself. If we look at the length of the tracks we can draw the conclusion that most of them are above average as it mostly is with prog. After repeated listening, however, the question remains with me whether we are indeed listening to prog rock in this case and I find that difficult to answer. David plays a lot of acoustic guitar and that's where his strength lies and the keys he plays sound quite pleasant, but don't expect dazzling solos or other powerhouses. His voice is very directly placed in the mix and reminds me a bit of Nick Barrett (Pendragon) in his younger years, a bit unpolished. The frequent harmony vocals are therefore very well used, but occasionally sound as if it was recorded in a pub on a pleasant evening. If I have to be very honest, and that is the purpose of a review, I have to say that the sparse solos on electric guitar are somewhat similar to my own fiddling when I thought I was becoming a musician. I wisely stopped and am sadly enough not impressed with this part of Foster's guitar playing. Opener Trafalgar Blues ends with such a solo. Stick to the acoustic guitar, that's where your strength lies. All tracks are quite similar and therefore All At Sea is a very consistent album. With almost an hour of playtime, it has an almost ideal duration. It all feels cheerful and that's because the lyrics were written for the aforementioned tragedy and the melodies are usually quite uplifting. This of course is in stark contrast to the terribly difficult task of dealing with a great loss, but being busy finishing this album has had a therapeutic effect. The personal lyrics are easy to follow and show a part of David's view of the world and his environment. The very direct mix means that the vocals in particular are very up front and in a song like Salt Requiem you can almost hear the sailors singing in the pub before they go back to sea. Exactly this atmosphere is palpable throughout the album and I have some trouble with that. Despite the regularly dominating keys, I hear little resemblance to the references they mentioned themselves, Steven Wilson, Marillion or Pink Floyd. I would stick to folky pop with some room for longer instrumental passages. The long Song Of Time, the closer, is the perfect sample for Daidrum's music, with all its charm and imperfections, and comes closest to these references. I also want to mention Breathe because of the beautiful melody. Well, I detect the love for music and also the commitment with which All At Sea is made and there is certainly a charming side to the music. It is certainly not a smoothed-out album with technical musical feats that obscure the core of a song. It is an honest product that is made with sincerity. I do like a bit of fiddle but on this album it is quite a lot and that occasionally creates a country-like atmosphere and that doesn't appeal to me. All in all, I have to conclude that All At Sea is quite far removed from the prog that I like, but that doesn't mean that it applies to everyone so try it and see what it does for you. Accept the invitation to listen to All At Sea strengthened by the beautiful cover, made by Anna Maria Souti **+ Erik Fraanje (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
