SWIFT, RICHARD
DRESSED UP FOR THE LETDOWN (SECRETLY CANADIAN)
reissue of sought-after LP Swift was a celebrated producer, collaborator and performer with The Black Keys, The Shins, Lucius, Nathaniel Rateliff, Damien Jurado, and many more Richard Swift has confidently composed yet another original masterpiece; employing an archaic attitude of tempered restraint on a fresh collection of ten songs, without appearing shamelessly retro or kitschy.
Playing a vast majority of the instruments on "Dressed Up" himself, by virtue Swift has created something that is characteristically his.
And considering his rough-around-theedges exterior, one could rightly assume that Swift desires the listener to accept him as an ordinary honest man with some honest songs -- unmasked blemishes and all.
Yet when one engages with Swift on this narrow-road-less-traveled, one immediately ignores the subtle imperfections shadowed by the all-consuming white light of well-crafted pop songs in an analog heaven.
In effect he's saying, "Just listen to my songs... the riffraff in the background is inconsequential." Sure Swift...
whatever you say.