I’ve always been a big fan of the folk music genre, and I love discovering local bands and artists from the UK that make this style of music. As it happens, I was very excited to discover Ash Dodd and his brand new EP, Songs That Make My Friends Cry, as it truly is beautiful. Recorded at Brighton Electric Studio with producer Luke May, the songs on the EP go through several different themes, seeing Dodd accompanied by an eclectic selection of musicians.
By Jane Howkins
Stripped-down folk song Memories is up first, also featuring Hana Luiz on vocals. The main instrumentation here comes from a pretty fingerpicked acoustic guitar, with a nice set of piano chords also provided by Matthew Gresty. The music sounds fairly simplistic at first, but this factor only allows Ash’s vocals to shine through even more, displaying a dazzling sense of emotion here.
Like You sees a number of interesting guitar motifs played over each other, creating some lovely textures in the background of the piece. This song also sees Willow Eden performing several stringed instruments, making for a gorgeous backing to the lead vocals and fingerpicked guitar. There’s a lot going on here, so you’ll need to listen to it a few times over to appreciate everything, but when the music is this good, that’s definitely not a bad thing!
Always You is another quiet, stripped-down tune, mostly consisting of Ash’s guitar and Ed Bell’s subtle basslines, although the piano and string do appear further down the line. The main chord sequence used here is phenomenally beautiful to behold, and you can really feel the emotion in Ash’s voice as he sings along in lovely style – this is a must listen song from me!
Last but by no means least is Make It Last. It opens with yet another lovely guitar motif, with an occasional piano trickle also heard in the background at times. The music is nice but it takes a bit of a backseat to the vocals here, highlighting Ash’s soulful voice one again.
I absolutely loved Songs That Make My Friends Cry on the very first listen, and I cannot wait to hear what Ash Dodd comes up with next time around. Keep your eyes peeled for more from Ash in the near future!