photo courtesy of Dallas Cosmas

by Joe Szilvagyi, Contributing Blogger

Album Review of Dallas Cosmas: Farewell From the Lighthouse

image courtesy of Dallas Cosmas

Regular listeners of Radio Diego from the Netherlands are probably already familiar with Dallas Cosmas. He currently has two songs from his latest album, Farewell From the Lighthouse, climbing their Twitter Top 40 chart with “Where Did You Go” cracking the top 10.

Dallas’ experience from a quarter century in the Australian music industry is clearly evident as he uses music to express recent personal loss. Each song is a tapestry of guitars and synthesizers wrapping the listener in a sense of suburban angst. Even when dreaming of getting to paradise like the damsels and dragonflies, the music lingers in a sense of defeat.

photo courtesy of Dallas Cosmas

It’s easy to wallow in the rich production, restrained drumming, haunting keyboards, and emotive guitar work that fill this album. Tales of loss are told from a place of comfort while looking at an uncertain future. The only thing that mars the recording is Dallas’ singing, which is mostly flat and occasionally off-key. I guess this reinforces the middle class sensibilities that make the music easy to connect to.