Milkteeth

Album review

Erased Tapes is not only the lair of Nils Frahm, Ólafur Arnalds and other champions of the neoclassical. The London label also houses curiosities like Douglas Dare. With the label for seven years, the British songwriter fits Erased Tapes profile of an atypical troubadour. A kind of folky who might be found wandering around at the end of the world... moving from guitar to piano, Dare develops his melancholy with the help of to an autoharp that can be seen in his hands on the cover of Milkteeth. Produced by Mike Lindsay of Tunng and LUMP, who makes the final product feel very contemporary, this very personal third album offers even deeper introspection than usual. Because when he evokes his coming-out or the loneliness of his childhood, the unveiling of Douglas Dare is total: but not solemn. We are touched by this laying-bare, punctuated by some well-targeted piano notes, like a neoclassical cloud that fits well with the Erased Tapes label identity. Viscerally folk in his DNA (rather like James Blake?), Milkteeth can sometimes seem a little austere. But when we zero in on the detail, we quickly fall under the spell of a work which is rather more intimate than universal. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz