{"product_id":"douglas-dare-milkteeth","title":"Douglas Dare - Milkteeth","description":"\u003cp\u003eEnglish songsmith Douglas Dare returns with his third and most stripped back studio album to date, \u003cem\u003eMilkteeth,\u003c\/em\u003e released on 21 February 2020 with Erased Tapes. Produced by Mike Lindsay — founding member of Tunng and one half of LUMP with Laura Marling — in his studio in Margate in just twelve days, \u003cem\u003eMilkteeth\u003c\/em\u003e sees Douglas become confident and comfortable enough with his own identity to reflect on both the joys and pains of youth. In doing so, he has established himself as a serious 21st century singer-songwriter with an enduring lyrical poise and elegant minimalist sound. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDouglas Dare grew up on a farm as the youngest member of a large extended family, where he was often found in his own private world, dancing in his mother’s pink ballet dress. \u003cem\u003e“Only now do I feel free to express my inner child again, and am giving myself permission to play dress up,”\u003c\/em\u003e says Dare of \u003cem\u003eMilkteeth\u003c\/em\u003e’s cover shot, in which he wears soft makeup and is draped with layers of white linen, acting the part of a Greek muse. \u003cem\u003e“I never felt like I fit in. I was different, odd. I wanted to dance and sing and dress up and on a small farm in rural Dorset that really stuck out.”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhere previously he has been known as a piano player, for \u003cem\u003eMilkteeth\u003c\/em\u003e Dare picked up a new instrument, the autoharp, and as soon as he sat down with it, songs poured out – he wrote the album’s first single \u003cem\u003eSilly Games\u003c\/em\u003e, in under an hour. \u003cem\u003e“Instinctual feelings about childhood and innocence were the catalyst,”\u003c\/em\u003e he explains. \u003cem\u003e“Then with the autoharp, it all just clicked – I could see the album laid out ahead of me.”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMilkteeth\u003c\/em\u003e opens with \u003cem\u003eI Am Free\u003c\/em\u003e, which loops piano and lyrics in an intimate dance, comparing the seemingly inexorable freedom of childhood to flying. \u003cem\u003eThe Playground\u003c\/em\u003e is a song Dare says he’s wanted to write for years, about a yearning for childhood innocence and simplicity. While \u003cem\u003eRed Arrows\u003c\/em\u003e tells a story of vulnerability, of craving parental comfort, \u003cem\u003eThe Joy In Sarah’s Eyes\u003c\/em\u003e is a Jeff Buckley-esque ballad for a new generation. In \u003cem\u003eHeavenly Bodies\u003c\/em\u003e there is an unhurried darkness that nods to Leonard Cohen’s songwriting, and is also the first time Dare has played the guitar on record. The melodies on \u003cem\u003eMilkteeth\u003c\/em\u003e are deliberately simple; Dare wanted it to feel familiar right from the first listen. In between these songs sit instrumental pieces – \u003cem\u003eThe Piano Room\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Stairwell\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Window\u003c\/em\u003e – named for the spots they were recorded in, moments for stillness and reflection. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMarking his arrival in 2014 with the release of his acclaimed debut \u003cem\u003eWhelm\u003c\/em\u003e and establishing his musical dexterity on the much darker follow up \u003cem\u003eAforger\u003c\/em\u003e in 2016, Dare’s star keeps growing. In 2017 he was asked to contribute a re-interpretation of \u003cem\u003eDance Me to the End of Love\u003c\/em\u003e to the Leonard Cohen exhibition \u003cem\u003eA Crack in Everything\u003c\/em\u003e at the Contemporary Art Museum of Montréal, currently showing at The Jewish Museum in New York before opening at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco in September 2020. He was invited by Robert Smith to perform at his Meltdown Festival at the Southbank Centre in 2018, followed by the David Lynch-curated Manchester International Festival alongside Anna Calvi in 2019.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDare’s music speaks of his own experiences of universal themes like love, loss, and childhood. Perhaps most importantly, his music gives a voice and a sanctuary to anyone who’s ever felt unusual or out of place. Whether he’s singing of the pain of those in the \u003cem\u003eMagdalene Laundries\u003c\/em\u003e as on \u003cem\u003eWhelm\u003c\/em\u003e, describing coming out to his parents on \u003cem\u003eAforger\u003c\/em\u003e, or processing his own childhood isolation on \u003cem\u003eMilkteeth\u003c\/em\u003e, Dare has a graceful honesty and an abiding clarity of vision in his simple and distinctive sound.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDinked Edition:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLimited to 300 copies\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAlternative cover art\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNumbered\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eColoured Vinyl\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"South Records Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Dinked LP","offer_id":64322637496697,"sku":null,"price":18.89,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0973\/1463\/6153\/files\/douglas-dare-milkteeth-south-records-ltd_89f83329-9c8f-4c77-a6f1-4afd5e338730.jpg?v=1787902716","url":"https:\/\/vinyl-relic.com\/products\/douglas-dare-milkteeth","provider":"My Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}