On "Sadie Goldman," Willie Dowling demonstrates once more that he's a songwriter turning on character, color, and a little mystery. From his celebrated record "The Simpleton," this new release is a musical short story, vivid, emotional, and, as always, distinctly Dowling.
"Sadie Goldman" features that signature bit of theatrical flair that has characterized Willie's solo work, bright and sincere, melodic with just a pinch of mischievousness. There's an old-world, striking tone to the song, one that prompts listeners to imagine scenes in flickering sepia tones. Dowling's voice guides us through a story that carries the intimacy and rhetoric of all stories, a meditation on transient encounters and the ghosts of history.
Willie has quietly and busily been leaving his mark on stages around the UK over the past eighteen months. Boasting four national support tours in theatres and major venues and two headline club tours, he has gained a reputation not just as an expert song craftsman but as a performer who genuinely connects. All that live energy seeps into "Sadie Goldman," which has a pulse as engaging as it is close.
If "The Simpleton" has served as Dowling's body for exploring the infinite nuances of human folly and emotion, "Sadie Goldman" is an ideal exercise, a wink to the audience before the curtain comes down. It's warm, textured, and uniquely his own, evidence that Willie Dowling is among the U.K.'s more under-heralded, engaging musical storytellers.