New four-track EP from Aberdare’s Mahouts.
Or is it? It could be argued that the Mahouts have gone in a new direction with this release. But then again, going in a new direction is what the Mahouts do.
Dorian Richard Holmes was already a veteran of the Cynon Valley music scene when he put together the first Mahouts album, It Might Be Hot Outside, But The Dirt Is Cold during Lockdown in 2020. That was a thought-provoking paean to a Welsh valley, recorded by Dorian mostly on his own, with a few mates dropping in to help out. And that was how it went for a while.
Then Dorian got together with Paul Underdown and Gene Davies and the Mahouts became a trio: a more traditional set up that made gigging a bit easier (Even Doz can’t play guitar drums and bass at the same time – although I’m sure he has tried), but still with their own unique vibe.
All these versions of the Mahouts had one thing in common: a proudly DIY approach, recorded in sheds and bedrooms, but you wouldn’t know that without reading the sleeve notes, because so much care and attention had gone into getting the sound right.
This latest release continues with that DIY approach. And then some. This is vey much a return to a solo project. However, whereas the early solo stuff had Dorian playing guitars, keyboards, percussion and singing, this is just him and his guitar. There’s a reason for this, as Dorian explains:
I’m living in Cyprus now.
I wanted the next phase to be a little more gentle than the Shed Rock years, but Paul and I have got some quieter ones unfinished as well.
I did enjoy the freedom of my original solo stuff. After moving, I only had my voice, an acoustic and a glass slide (waiting for other things to turn up).
On this EP we have four tunes that, although gentler than the ‘Shed Rock’ material, bleed passion from every note. The use of that glass slide give the tunes a bluegrass vibe rather than a folky vibe.
The EP opens with ‘Horses’, which remembers waking up as a child after a night of horses running through Dorian’s dreams.
‘Goddamn Those English Boys’ conjures up images of English Boys running rampage through seaside towns. Mods maybe?
‘Guernica’ reflects on the famous anti-war painting by Pablo Picasso that depicts the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica by the German air force in 1937. At once a reflection on the pointlessness of war and the need to remember these things to avoid repeating them. Although recent events suggest that the one lesson we learn from history, is that we never learn from history.
The final tune is the EP title, ‘A Love That Satisfies’. We think it is a love song, but the delivery makes it sound like his dog just got run over by the train he just jumped off, in that sort of thirties hobo blues kind of way.
To recycle a phrase I used when reviewing that first album – A Mahout is like an elephant: it’s difficult to describe, but you know one when you hear it. This is the sound of a man who, even when he has moved to another country and is waiting for many of his belongings to join him, is compelled to do what he knows best, what he loves. And that’s to make music. It is raw with no frills, but you can’t avoid being drawn in by the sheer passion that oozes from every note.