Dent May - Warm Blanket

Dent May is one of pop’s dreamers. ‘Warm Blanket’ follows in quick succession from last year’s ‘Do Things’, and displays all of the Mississippi singer-songwriter’s eccentric qualities.

For an album in which almost every sound and instrument was played by May himself in a supposedly haunted Victorian house in Florida, the songs sound rich and satisfying. It’s a melting pot of skewed pop, which flits between dreamy introspection and bittersweet exuberance.

May himself comes across as a man out of time; he’s is something of an auteur, with a kinship with idiosyncratic, yet brilliant songwriters such as Harry Nilsson. The songs on ‘Warm Blanket’ frequently reference the ageing process and May’s desire to return to a simpler time. - here’s a man who rejects the hyper speed reality of modern life. On the glorious odd disco pop of ‘Born Too Late’ he indulges in a smoothed out and luxurious piece that has a perfect late summer vibe. As is often the case though, the sunny sound of the music is juxtaposed with inherent melancholy as his gloopy voice sighs, “I was born too late to tell you I love you.”

The theme of mortality is again cleverly and sympathetically referenced on the reflective ‘I’m Ready To Be Old’. Much of the music here is possessed with a wide-eyed charm that makes May an easy character to warm to. An example of this endearing charm is the plaintive yearning lament that closes the album. ‘Summer Is Over’ is a gorgeously evocative country-tinged song that hears May proclaiming, “Summer is over, I can’t believe it’s gone.”

There’s an unabashed sweet sincerity to Dent May’s music that makes ‘Warm Blanket’ a joy to listen to. His sound is wrapped up in a fusion of seventies singer-songwriter grandeur and MOR easy listening pop that makes him a worthy contemporary successor to a long lineage of compelling pop songwriters.