Dakota - Heart And Soul
Review by Jack Foley
SOME of the most striking albums of recent times have been born out of heartbreak (including efforts from Alanis Morissette, Noah & The Whale and Beck), so it’s little wonder that Dakota frontman Ben Talbot eyed an opportunity once he broke up with the woman he loved.
The resulting album is by no means a classic, but it does mark the arrival of a promising new band who would appear to have plenty of potential.
Heart And Soul is billed as a collection of pop songs in the classic sense, inspired by both the sweet sad pop of the ’60s and its harder anthemic 21st Century counterparts.
Vocally, frontman Talbot has a distinct, almost Brett Anderson-esque presence about him but it’s better used to the rockier moments, rather than the lovelorn ballads that scream out agony… and are sometimes agonising.
Hence, while album opener On My Own deserves to be left alone, Dakota display plenty of the aforementioned potential on Wild Child, tapping into an almost Suede-like ability to juggle hard-hitting lyrics with radio friendly appeal.
Better still, meanwhile, is the pure rock out of Why Don’t You Like Me?, which includes some of the best guitar work on the LP, and some searching, probing lyrics. It screams of anguish… although there’s a danger that singing repeatedly about the same feelings of despair can strike as self-indulgent.
The darker stuff, however, is where you suspect Dakota’s future really lies… as more ‘pop’ material such as Even If You Go Away and We Get Along doesn’t leave as lasting an impression as material such as Why Don’t You Like Me? or She, which begins acoustically but drops a melancholy chorus that also rates among the album’s best.
That said, the chorus of Can’t Remember suggests that if they were to pursue a more euphoric sound, they’d be able to tap into Delays-style territory.
Like we said… Dakota are a band with bags of potential and Heart And Soul contains more than its fair share of quality moments.
Download picks: Wild Child, Why Don’t You Like Me?, She, Can’t Remember
Track listing: