Ned Roberts – Dream Sweetheart
Aveline Records – 7 February 2020
It takes a certain amount of guts to open a folk album with 30 seconds of string quartet music. After that, you have to deliver the goods, which Ned Roberts does in spades on Dream Sweetheart. Rarely do dreams and reality come together perfectly and such is the case here. When the main theme occurs 30 seconds in, Roberts falsetto voice sings, “You keep looking away, I got nothing to say. Blue moon is hiding its face, the stars fall away.” Slowly building, adding more guitar and piano just provides a counterpoint to the heartbreak.
The closing cymbal crash of Falling Away fades into a muted keyboard sustain, while solitary guitar and harmonica underpin Miles Between. In those moments, Luther Russell’s production adds weight to Roberts’ themes. Upping the pace, Wrong Side Of You (premiered here on Folk Radio) is a song about travelling to escape, “yet your mind is inexorably drawn back home. The song sat around for quite a while, and it was strange how only after a breakup that its meaning began to crystallize,” Ned explains.
The rhythm of the railway is used as a base for Stay A Little Longer, immediately setting up the sense that things will not go beyond the moment, yet there are feelings that need closure. “Come closer to me now, I want to see you in the light, you caught my eye in a different space, so just stay a little longer.” And like rails that go on and on, there is hope that this love may as well, yet the rails seem to tell a different tale.
Over a bed of two acoustic guitars, with keyboard flourishes, The Songbird tells a tale “… of memory and loss – about how shared experiences can be remembered differently, in a different light. Each verse is a call and response, one fragment of memory answering another. It’s only in the final verse when the memories coalesce.”
Cross The Boughs reintroduces the string quartet, while Slower Than The Sea beautifully pulls out all the stops, including everything from harmonium and finger cymbal chimes to copper pan gamelan. It works like a charm, showing the craft involved in making this collection; everything works within conjunction of the song; nothing sounds out of place.
Throughout Dream Sweetheart, the little touches are a testament to the inspiration involved in putting this set together. Words and music form a common bond creating songs that touch an emotional core both familiar and unique. Ned Roberts’ dreams come to life as they touch your heart.
Pre-Order Dream Sweetheart via Bandcamp
UK Tour in March, more details here: https://www.nedroberts.co.uk/