The Dawn Chorus – “The Carnival Leaves Town”
A review, by Homo Rodans

What exactly is folk music? I don’t know, but there are bands that you just need to listen to one time and something inside you says without hesitation: “that sounds like ‘folk’ music”

And that’s precisely what happened to me while listening to these guys from the UK that call themselves, ‘The Dawn Chorus’.  Since the first few seconds of the opening track ‘Enter: The Carnival’ you can figure out that something amusing is about to happen. Festive. Pastoral.  Acoustic. You can hear, as the 12 songs go by, that the lyrics are related to young feelings of love and deception.

Young and dreamy feelings. Even though some phrases look exactly the opposite like: ‘we are not getting any younger, but we still feel the same hunger that we had when we were seventeen’.  The Carnival concept in the album is so strong that sometimes feels a little excessive. But that doesn’t demerit the quality of the songs, which will fancy the taste of those looking for a well achieved melodic-bucolic experience.

I can’t say for sure that any of the songs in particular is an instant hit, especially because I’m finding some trouble assimilating the lead voice. It seems like the phenomenon of “a unique band sound with a unique lead singer voice” happens here. You can either love him or hate him, but it won’t pass with indifference upon your ears. I would say, however, that “Heartbeat in 5/4” put a smile on my face that I can’t seem to dissolve yet :)

So, give it a try and see what you think. Something tells me that sometime in the future this album will be one of those hardcore-fan favorites of all times.

Rodans rating: 7/10

About the author: He once played a toy piano through a Memory Man daisy chained through a Graphic Equalizer. The ensuing soundwave made the plaster shift two inches towards the centre of the Earth.