“North Hills” – 4th June 2012
Loose are proud to announce the release of North Hills, the debut album by critically acclaimed Los Angeles band Dawes on June 4th 2012.
“their sound is redolent of faded denim, scuffed cowboy boots and hours spent sharing seats on a tour bus”
THE INDEPENDENT
“the super-tight LA outfit have picked up where the Eagles left off”
THE TIMES
★★★★★
UNCUT
A prequel, if you will, to 2011’s critically acclaimed Nothing is Wrong, North Hills is Dawes’ first effort, a glimpse at the roots of a now fully grown band. Comprised of 11 soul-bearing tracks, North Hills is drenched with the essence of the band’s native California, evoking the mythology of 1970s Los Angeles without compromising their contemporary sound. Hazy ballads like the album’s opening tunes ‘That Western Skyline’, and first single ‘Love is All I Am’ are balanced with soaring, stadium-ready tracks like ‘When My Time Comes,‘ showcasing the band’s dynamic, versatile, and cohesive talent. With swelling harmonies and ambitious guitar solos, rolling bass lines and heartbeat drums, North Hills is an authentic slice of 21st Century Americana.
Dawes emerged in 2009 after the disintegration of Taylor Goldsmith’s past project Simon Dawes, which led the band towards folkier horizons. Largely due to night after night of relentless touring, the band, and North Hills, worked their ways beyond the sunny skies of California and into the hearts of America. Best described as an American rock band, Dawes is a group of two brothers, Taylor on guitar and lead vocals and Griffin Goldsmith on drums, joined by two long-time friends, Wylie Gelber on bass and Tay Strathairn on the keys. Their chemistry is natural, infectious and entirely evident on North Hills, which was (like new album Nothing Is Wrong) brilliantly produced by Jonathan Wilson and cut from full-band takes recorded on 2” analog tape – the end result being as close to a live setting as one can preserve.
“If you’re writing on a typewriter,” Taylor Goldsmith says, “you have to commit to whatever you’re writing. Typewriters don’t make it easy for you to go back and rethink things. Same thing with recording analog. We don’t do it because that’s what the people we admire did. We do it because it demands something out of us. It doesn’t allow us to show up lazy or not on our game. We cut every track knowing that this stuff isn’t easy to edit.”
Dawes recently wrapped up their first headlining European tour, including three sold-out London shows. They’ll be back for a handful of festival dates in July, which will include sharing a stage with Bruce Springsteen at Hard Rock Calling in Hyde Park.
07/07/12 – T IN THE PARK
13/07/12 – LATITUDE FESTIVAL
14/07/12 – HARD ROCK CALLING
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