Described on his Myspace page as ‘John Martyn meets Nick Drake for the 21st Century’, Dan Arborise certainly has the strung out, jazzy tendencies of the former when it comes to his guitar playing and even a touch of the vocal fragility of the latter.
Lyrically, ‘Of Tide And Trail’ is a collection of meditations on life, death and fatherhood. Fine though they are, however, it’s not the words that are the principal concern. The woozy drone of one man and his guitar may not seem like anything particularly noteworthy, but this is a hugely atmospheric record that’s gently beguiling, with picked acoustic guitar layered to create ambient swathes of sound that engage the head and melt the heart.
7/10
Words by Gareth James
