David Kitt

Item: Square 1
Author: Steve Stockman

Square 1

(2004)

Reviewed by Steve Stockman

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Label Warner Bros. RecordsThe Phantom Tollbooth2004

folk rock indie pop

One of my work colleagues asked me what that racket was as we walked past my office. It was as incongruous an answer as I could give -- David Kitt. She now believes Dublin's affectionately known Kittser as being louder, rawer and more bombastic than "The Darkness!" Nothing could be further from the truth of course. David Kitt's Square 1 album went straight to Number 1 in the Irish charts because of his reputation as the gentle, lush post-party groove man.

My colleague's comment does show a difference between this and his first full album The Big Romance. My initial listening had me a little worried that for the sake of being change Kitt had electrified the guitars and cranked up the volume to avoid the same-old, same-old reviews. One of the problems in the music industry is if you are talented enough to actually come up with your very own sound they want you to be different next time! So my concern was that when the disposition of your muse is the gentle, then it is not going to be easy to crank it up!

Truth is, though some of the playing on certain songs take noise to levels never before imagined in the world of Kittser (try the distortions on the end of "Sweet Summer Morning" which ironically was the song that made my colleague ask about the din!), there is no need to panic. This is still an album where the hypnotic ambience of languishing effortless beauty chills your soul to bring calm in the stress of work or weekend party going. He has this habit of creating little repetitive lyrical grooves as in "House With Trains" that seems to go straight through your ear and into your bloodstream.

Kitt is in love. He has achieved what many songwriters don't even attempt: the happy, positive, celebratory love album. The heartbreak and pain of albums like Dylan's archetypal Blood On the Tracks are easier to write and have been used in many a day after being dumped. Square 1 is the album for the morning after the first kiss. This is love celebrated, and who better to create that warm gooey feeling of love than David Kitt.

4 tocks