Daniel Woolhouse - What's That Sound?

Daniel Woolhouse emerges from his alias as Deptford Goth, offering a thawed, sparkling reincarnation of his frosty, spacious songwriting. His most recent album under the moniker, Songs (2014), indicated a warming of the seas – but What’s That Sound? takes the plunge.

Slow Club’s Rebecca Lucy Taylor lends her voice to opener Crazy Water, for a warming, swelling, urgent track with all the heart of a village choir. What’s That Sound? shows Woolhouse literally exploring his sonic range – each of the eleven tracks pushes his once low-key aesthetic into bolder, bigger forms. Not that this third record – or first, depending on your view – has cheerier motifs, though.

Memory guides the map as we revisit family, fields, home, church, empty streets; Dreamt I Was A Ceramicist Too is a The National-esque sweep through blurred recollections. Whispered, skeletal R’n’B turns into grand-scale, full-band affairs, with sax and electric guitar underscoring Woolhouse’s sentiments rather than Deptford Goth's soft, devastating synths.

The record is mostly a solo performance, but you’d not know it from the bombast of Graffiti or the hammered showmanship of Tomorrow’s Egg; five piece indie bands would offer up their souls. Witty, odd and carefully drawn, Woolhouse nails whimsy without once hitting twee. Map of the Moon will sound the most familiar to previous listeners, but turns up the drama tenfold. ‘I can see a whole lot more,’ he croons. ‘When I’ve been thinking ’bout you.’ 

Listen to: Dreamt I Was A Ceramicist Too, Map of the Moon