Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Stirling Duke, Independent 2018.
Stirling Duke is the performance name of Dugald Anthony of The Mama-Dukes, a band I have had the pleasure of watching develop, and reviewing, over the last five years.
This album is the first solo effort to come out of the collective, although many of the musicians from the Stradbroke Island crew known as the Mama-Dukes and MoTronics perform on the disc.
Because the writing on These Golden Days has been entirely in the hands of Dugald Anthony there is a consistency to this disc that has sometimes been lacking in the five previous albums I’ve reviewed.
This is not to be read as a criticism of the earlier albums, they have a charm all of their own, however it is difficult to present a coordinated artistic vision when many members of the collective deserve to have their songs aired.
It presents challenges but also often throws up surprises at the same time.
While Dugald has always been the main songwriter of the collective, on These Golden Days he’s had the space and control to refine his songwriting craft even further.
At least three songs amongst the nine very good tacks on the disc stand out as being some the best he’s written so far.
Blue Satellite opens the album. It’s an up tempo ‘love lost’ song with a chorus; “we’re just two lost and lonely blue satellites” but on a positive note the lyrics suggest that you never know what might happen when their two orbits next coincide.
The production is big and luscious.
Loving You is a great blues ballad, replete with falsetto vocals and lots of space in the mix, and Summer Sun is another moving ballad this time about new found love.
There’s an element of refinement and polish to the writing and recording in these tracks that suggests there’s a lot more to come and I can’t wait for the next instalment.
I have spent many years working in and around the music industry and I appreciate the skill and dedication that goes in to producing and recording original music and I applaud Dugald and all his mates for their efforts.
The albums are available from stirlingduke.bandcamp.com at this PS News link.
