Dan Michaelson – Sudden Fiction

This is probably the most laid back album I’ve listened to in a while. The gravelly gruff vocals of Dan Michaelson are accompanied with minimal guitar and piano, softly playing, and greatly complimenting him. I first knew of Dan Michaelson when he was with the Coastguards, and then quickly found out about his previous band, Absentee. This album continues on Dan’s normal path of melancholic melodies, he truly unleashes his inner Eeyore and I like it. Some people may believe that because he is not really moving on, that he has plateaued, I think this may be his best album yet. Although Saltwater, released with the Coastguards is pretty damn good, and Victory Shorts, when he was with his previous band Absentee is worth a listen. I think his music has become more mellow and laid back as his career goes on. This album has heavy influences from the time he spent in the Texan wilderness, in a remote artistic desert community of Marfa. There are twinges of Bill Callahan and Josh T Pearson in this music, maybe more like the latter, as Bill  Callahan is more upbeat on the whole. This album is worth a listen anyway, but maybe not if you are feeling a bit down, or maybe it might compliment that. So continues the melancholic meandering of Dan Michaelson.

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