Written by: Luke Dunmore
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Willie Dowling
The Simpleton
Out Now
You may not think you’re familiar with the multi-instrumentalist Willie Dowling‘s work, but it’s highly likely that you’ve heard it without realising. Whether it be from his work in scores, themes and incidental music in a myriad of TV and film stuff, maybe it’ll be from his session and live work with artists such as Dr Hook, The Wildhearts or, most recently, the Quireboys. He’s also fronted a ton of great bands in his own right too, notably: The Grip, Honeycrack, Jackdaw4 and The Dowling Poole. He gets about does our Willie.
Last year, Jon Poole, his equally prolific cohort in The Dowling Poole, was announced as the bassist in the current line-up of The Wildhearts and that left Willie twiddling his thumbs somewhat. This, unsurprisingly, is where The Simpleton enters the tale. Kind of.
The origin of these songs actually began several years earlier, during lockdown. He started experimenting with writing songs on piano again and quite liked the way the first one he wrote turned out and ended up writing more than an album’s worth more.
Despite his impressive back catalogue, The Simpleton is actually his first proper solo release and though it’ll sound immediately recognisable to fans of his earlier work, it’s also not really like anything he’s done before. It’s a fairly stripped back affair;just Willie with piano, bass and drums. Occasional strings and cello subtly pop up here and there to great effect.
Given that set up, a fairly obvious comparison becomes apparent and that’s Ben Folds. There are several points throughout the album that bring Ben Folds Five’s contemporary take on piano rock to mind. Not just in the instrumentation but the melodies and harmonies too, particularly in songs like The Cure, Under The Gaslight and Sadie Goldman. I mention this purely as a frame of reference rather than as any accusations of plagiarism so keep any torches of outrage unlit for now.
Let Us Begin is an opening song title for which I approve. The song itself is maybe a risk to choose as an opener as it’s one of the strongest songs on offer. It’s also a little more theatrical than the rest of the album and feels like it could have been lifted from any number of dramatic musicals. It starts off quietly sombre and simple but, once it kicks in, it’s about as epic as The Simpleton gets. It ebbs and flows, dropping abruptly and then erupting again. The strings are just sublime, the cello solo halfway through tugs at… something… inside. It’s a dark, nihilistic song about acceptance of the end. It also hints at a prominent theme of the album of The Simpleton: Political criticism.
Several songs on the album express outrage, disappointment and condemnation, both of the previous ruling UK Government and of modern society as a whole. The first of these, Long Drop Down, describes The British Isles as “The island that broke up and drifted further and further away from itself” which is a depressing but accurate description of the way Brexit split the UK and caused a seemingly unrepairable divide. Each verse describes an individual with a differing political viewpoint or position but rather than lay the blame at the feet of any of them, it points the damning finger upwards, towards the openly corrupt elite.
This is a sentiment echoed in the particularly scathing track The Gravy Train, who’s gentle, pleasant meander of a tune belies the vitriol in it’s lyrics. Under The Gaslight is even more direct and a blatant attack at an unnamed politician. Sadly there are several individuals that come to mind who could be the focus of a line like “You’ve a fork in your tongue and a hole in your heart where the empathy leaks out in pools at your feet” It’s possibly the most musically sparse track here, just vocals and piano, but the simplicity of it draws focus to Willie’s brilliantly acerbic lyrics and a particularly great vocal performance.
Not all of the tracks are so politically motivated however. The chaotically frenetic I Killed My Imaginary Friend is about overcoming the anthropomorphic manifestation of our anxieties, insecurities and self doubt. The wonderful Sadie Goldman tells the tale of a middle-aged woman reflecting back on her disappointing life and, rather than succumbing to suicide, she decides to do something about it, It’s one of the quieter songs on the album, and probably the most Ben Foldsy, but definitely one of my favourites.
Other than the laid back intro, the title track is much more lively and has a strong 70s power pop feel to the bouncy verses. It regards the fact no matter how much you think you know, or how skilled you consider yourself, at something, there’s always someone else more knowledgeable, more talented; You’ll always be a simpleton to someone.
The album closes with In The Ocean which, like Let Us Begin, sounds as if it’s taken from, or intended for, some musical. Admittedly quite a bleak one, as it seems to be about how we ruined our chance to be a decent dominant species so it’d probably be best if “we all go back to our place in the ocean”. The devolution of the human race essentially. It’s a perfect finale for the album, both in tone and subject, and it bookends the album nicely with the many-mentioned Let Us Begin.
Willie Dowling has always been a much overlooked songwriter and lyricist and he’s lost none of his skills, there’s nothing even approaching a duff track on The Simpleton so, while it might not be everyone’s idea of a rock album but it is an excellent one so it might be worth sparing forty minutes of your time just in case.
Willie has very recently supported Cats In Space on their UK tour and, at time of writing, is also supporting the Quireboys as well as keyboarding with the headliners. Commencing February 2025, He’ll be embarking upon a UK headline tour so check the dates and get along if you can.
Track Listing
- Let Us Begin
- Long Drop Down
- The Simpleton
- Sadie Goldman
- The Cure
- Under The Gaslight
- The Gravy Train
- Down The Slide
- I Killed My Imaginary Friend
- In The Ocean