Salutations, friends! I cordially welcome you to a new issue (the newest, in fact) of A Dave in The Life. It’s been a long time since the last one - did you miss me? Actually, don’t answer that. I originally said I’d try to do one of these every month but I sadly have to admit defeat on that front. Let me explain…
The truth is I haven’t had much to report. I’ve mostly been beavering away on one project over the past couple of months and can’t share any of it yet (more on this later). Aside from that, June saw me spending a lot of time outdoors cycling, walking, or camping, on my own and with friends, enjoying the sun. Remember the sun? No, me neither. I also got back into the good habit of swimming regularly and have been making weekly trips to my local swimming pool as well as frequenting rivers, lakes, and the sea as much as possible. I can’t exaggerate how good swimming makes me feel, mentally and physically, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a hobby that exercises both body and brain.
July featured more of the same (weather-permitting of course) and also included a day trip to Wimbledon for quarter-finals day, a real treat. However, enough idle chit-chat! Life isn’t all fun and games! Let me fill you in on what I’ve been working on.
ALBUM UPDATE
I spent most of my working days in June and July frantically trying to finish a new album of songs that I rather embarassingly started back in 2020. After several distractions and delays, Covid being one, the album process has dragged on for much longer than I ever planned, but it is now nearing its final stages. I’ve been working a lot on lyrics recently and have now recorded vocals on 4 (out of 10) songs. I’ve also been adding final little details to the tracks such as keyboards, synths, harmonica, glockenspiel, and strings.
Once these final overdubs and vocals have been recorded (hopefully soon) it’ll be time for me to edit all the tracks and send them off to be mixed, something I’m very excited about. This album is likely to see the light of day next year and will probably mark the beginning of a new musical project I am yet to come up with a name for. I’m sure you’ll agree this is all very exciting! I can’t wait to begin this new chapter and start sharing what I’ve been working on these past few years with you.
picture below: my home studio where I spend most of my working days
ACOUSTIC EP
I mentioned in previous issues that I’ve been working on acoustic versions of all 5 tracks from my Home, Come Home EP. I’ve released three of these acoustic versions so far, the most recent of which was my one-hit-wonder smash-hit-single Dreams About Rooms, and you can listen to them all here on Spotify.
I plan to release the full 5-track acoustic EP in August (or maybe September) and will let you know when it’s out. I’m doing very little promotion for these versions and am mainly releasing them for my own enjoyment, but I hope that you might take a listen and appreciate them in some way.
The artwork for this acoustic EP is below.
NEWS
I don’t have much more to say, other than, perhaps:
It’s just under a month now until I play All Points East Festival in London with Novo Amor (27th August) which I’m very excited for, then am back on tour at the end of the year. Also, the first tour date for next year has just been announced and gone on sale - Jakarta, Indonesia in March 2024. Full list of current dates are all listed here on the Novo Amor website, with many more to be announced in the coming weeks and months
At the end of June I was very glad to hop back on bass guitar to play a show with my friend Ellie James at The Louisiana in Bristol. Ellie and her band are very lovely, very talented, and it was a joy to join them again on stage. I hope to do it again sometime soon but, in the meantime, I strongly urge you to listen to Ellie’s excellent EP Uncomfortable here on Spotify
FIN
Show’s over. That’s it for another issue. I hope it was worth the wait? Actually, don’t answer that either. I’d love to promise that the next issue won’t take me so long, but you just can’t be sure about anything in this life... So I’ll just see you next time, whenever that may be.
Until then, get outside and enjoy what remains of summer! And take care, of course.
DJH.
CULTURAL HIGHLIGHTS
Currently reading:
Ernst Junger - Storm of Steel
Last book I finished:
(June was a good month; I finished a few)
Roger Deakin - Waterlog (finally finished - great book, just not a page-turner. Best to dip into (pun intended))
Ian McEwan - On Chesil Beach
Richard Yates - Disturbing The Peace (this was great, absolutely a page-turner)
Albums I’ve enjoyed:
feeble little horse - Girl with Fish
LYR - The Ultraviolet Age
Meursault - Meursault
Sigur Rós - ÁTTA
Haley Blais - Below The Salt
Electrelane - No Shouts, No Calls
Squirrel Flower - Full Time Job / When A Plant Is Dying (double single, not album)
Films I’ve enjoyed:
Spirited Away
Summer of Soul (excellent music/historical documentary)
Barbie (I was pleasantly surprised, not what I was expecting)