Dosh - Tommy

For a man turning out his fifth album, Dosh sounds remarkably fresh. New longplayer Tommy makes good on the Minnesotan instrumentalist’s ear for arrangement, while engraining a looser feel through his naturally complex soundscapes. Opening number Subtractions typifies this new direction of sorts, loftily swooping from tribal pulse into a crisp chant-fed clatter of hi-hat, snare and synth. From here the mood gets airy; Town Mouse’s flouncy jazz is aided by a vibrating fuzz of percussion while jaywalking piano and countrified beats signature Andrew Bird’s appearance on Number 41 and closing number Gare De Lyon mutates from earthy lament into a thrilling explosion of bass-splattered drums. Amidst this breeziness Country Road X and Call The Kettle seem almost impenetrable, but their dense sprawls are quickly allayed by the album’s hook-driven highpoint, Airlift. Fidelity-wise, Dosh will always be an audiologist’s dream. In terms of tune, Tommy finds him in another dimension. [Billy Hamilton]