David Vandervelde - Waiting For the Sunrise

Ghosting from a bygone era, David Vandervelde’s 1970s emulation on his official debut long-player, Waiting for the Sunrise, is fairly remarkable, much in the way that Midlake’s The Trials of Van Occupanther was, for its purist capture of a classic age and sound. From the sunshine-burnt beauty of opener I Will Be Fine, through to the narcotic, mainline drift of Lyin’ In Bed, Vandervelde belies his youthful 22 years with an album as adult in sound and observationally mature as any. The single detraction is that at times there’s the odd over-reliance on pastiche, and a whimsy which conjures the image of bearded men with tropical shirts and a jarring, peace-loving glaze in their eyes. Ultimately though this is a top-down Cadillac drive through the breezy West Coast scene of the 70s, and a beautiful trip at that. [Paul Neeson]