Dan Lyth. The name means something to me like some spectre from the past or, as Dickens would have it, a chance to ponder what once was. Dan Lyth’s (and The Euphrates’) album “Benthic Lines” is, accordingly, nothing if not reflective as if leaving the listeners with something to smile at was a punishable offence.
That said, there is much to commend here as Dan Lyth is clearly a literate songwriter and his elegant way with words of imagination often impresses – especially in “We Were Bones And We Were Meat” – and he regularly exceeds the distinctly unimpressive musical accompaniment that stops any of these songs from crossing the line in first place. Whilst the lack of budget clearly affected the scope of what could have been an adventurous work, it is nevertheless hard not to be similarly impressed by the effort that Dan Lyth puts into transcending the limitations of his own voice in order to sell these melancholic songs to a cardigan wearing public.
On reflection, pushing limits probably wasn’t in Dan Lyth’s game plan so “Benthic Lines” should therefore succeed in gaining the requisite attention amongst the beard scratchers in the better part of town.