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DOT ALLISON - THIEF OF ME

"Dot Allison emerging here as someone truly deserving of attention and respect."

Review by Mike Bond
reviews
Track Listing > >
Thief Of Me (Radio Edit) / In Deep Water / Tall Flowers / Thief Of Me (Album Version)
COOKING VINYL

As former frontwoman to trip hop pioneers One Dove, Dot Allison is a singer who is no stranger to hypnotic, trancelike pop beauty.  Now, about to release her fourth solo record, EXALTATION OF LARKS, Allison has emerged an accomplished singer/songwriter on her own terms.
Latest single THIEF OF ME showcases her maturity and class as an artist,  a folk tinged slice of subdued majesty; Dot Allison crooning effectively over swirling orchestral flourishes and gentle acoustic guitar strums; equal parts Beth Orton, Nick Drake and Nick Cave.  Backed by the equally delicious likes of IN DEEP WATER and TALL FLOWERS, it's clear that Dot Allison is someone who has truly come into her own.
THIEF OF ME is a lesson in mature, majestic singer/songwriter material done the right way; Dot Allison emerging here as someone truly deserving of attention and respect.

BIOGRAPHY
Singer and songwriter Dot Allison returns with a collection of pre-psychedelic harmony-soaked love songs on her new LP, "Exaltation Of Larks", on Monday 10th September. 
"Exaltation Of Larks" is a heart-rending, soul-searching album that is haunted by musical spirits of The Beach Boys, Nick Drake, Emmy-Lou, Alexander Skip Spence, Neil Young and Dusty Springfield. 
Dot is joined at the production helm by the legendary producer, Kramer. Having loved Kramer's inspired production work with Galaxie 500, Low and more recently Daniel Johnston, Dot decided Kramer was the perfect producer for "Exaltation Of Larks". 
Dot wanted to make a Long Player of 'lover's headphone music'. Never being a fan of music that is 'over-processed and de-humanised', Dot decided she needed to work with musicians who were dedicated to retaining the beautiful imperfections of the live performance while helping her to build a sonic palace. With Kramer, Dot has created walls of production and harmony that transport the listener to somewhere else completely (in the same way the records that inspired Dot have always transported her to another world internally). 
A Biochemistry student, Dot left her degree to found the 90's successful and acclaimed Dub-Electronic-Pop trio One Dove. In One Dove, Dot first came to know chart success in Europe and America. Dot spent years writing for another One Dove LP but eventually due to both external pressures for label politics and internal wrangling within the band as a result of this, Dot opted to leave the band to go solo. She signed to Heavenly Records in 1997. 
After 1999's stellar pop-beauty of "Afterglow" Dot's first solo album which remains a well-kept secret in the UK although it went to no1. in the college charts in U.S.A. 
”Afterglow” featured a song-writing collaboration with the legendary lyricist and long-time collaborator of Burt Bacharach, Hal David along with performance appearances by My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields and The Stone Roses's Mani Mounfield on bass. 
In 2002 Dot released a somewhat rebellious record, "We are Science" on Beggars Banquet's Mantra. On this LP Dot often abandoned the traditional use of the voice in song-structure and instead used it purely as an instrument often creating repetitive riffs, washes and pedals. 
Her first solo outing "Afterglow" also inspired Massive Attack's 3-D to invite Dot to join the Massive Attack collective as both a songwriter and singer. Dot subsequently joined them on two world tours both supporting with a solo acoustic set as well as on lead vocals and she has been composing with them ever since. 
While on breaks from headlining with Massive Attack Dot was asked to join Pete Doherty to co-headline with him on his Bilo Albion acoustic tour in early 2004 which was the first Pete Doherty tour after "The Libertines" split. 
After touring the UK writing and performing with Peter, Dot then headed back to join the Massive Attack collective for a month or two. She then on her return re-joined Peter to guest with him on several co-penned songs as part of the Babyshambles set on the 'Stone Me What A Life' tour in late 2004. 
Since then Dot has completed recordings with Bobby Gillespie and Paul Weller for future projects. 
Dot Allison is one of the music business's more interesting characters. She has successfully managed to body-swerve major fame to continue to create her authentic heart-felt pop and to work with some of music's finest talents. 
She wants to continue creating sensitive music that inspires art-lovers everywhere and to write songs that send you the kind of shivers that beckon you to lose yourself in illustrious daydreams. 

LINE UP
Dot Allison

DISCOGRAPHY
AFTERGLOW (Heavenly Records>1999)
Colour Me
Tomorrow Never Comes
Close Your Eyes
Message Personnel
I Wanna Feel The Chill
Morning Sun
Did I Imagine You?
Mo' Pop
Alpha Female
In Winter Still

WE ARE SCIENCE (Mandra Records>2002)
We're Only Science
Substance
You Can Be Replaced
Performance
Wishing Stone
Make It Happen
Strung Out
I Think I Love You
Hex
Lover

ACOUSTIC (Gig Only Release>2003)
Tommorrrow Never Comes
Lover
Strung Out
Did I Imagine you
Dream High (New Song)
Mirror (New Song)
I Believe in You (Neil Young)
Song to the Siren (Tim Buckley)

THIEF OF ME (Cooking Vinyl>2007)
Thief Of Me (Radio Edit)
In Deep Water
Tall Flowers
Thief Of Me (Album Version)

EXALTATION OF LARKS (Cooking Vinyl>2007)
Allelujah
Thief Of Me
Sunset
In Deep Water
You Dropped Your Soul
M'Aidez Call
Tall Flowers
Quicksand
Shivering
The Latitude And Longitude Of Mystery

LINKS
Dot Allison>www.dotallison.com

FURTHER LISTENING
Nick Drake
Beth Orton
One Dove


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Review date: September 2007