Dan Michaelson is the 33-year-old whisky barrel baritone and short-legged leader of Dan Michaelson & the Coastguards. After his former band Absentee took early retirement due to lack of ego, he decided to start work on a solo album. Following several embarrassing phone calls and the odd spelling mistake, renowned Icelandic producer Valgier Sigurdsson (Bjork, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Sigur Ros) came over to stay in Dan’s London home, the pair of them making the daily trip to Hackney’s solar-powered Premises Studios to record and produce the tracks Michaelson had written.
Enlightened by the results, and quickly realising that the songs allowed for the subtle touches of a few more hands, Dan created the Coastguards, quietly fooling some of London’s most talented players into working with him. Among those appearing on that first record were: Henry (from the band Fields), Arnulf (KT Tunstall), Tom & Henry (Rumblestrips), Romeo Stodart (Magic Numbers), Steven Adams (Broken Family Band/Singing Adams) plus Valgier himself playing various parts of the piano. The culmination of these efforts was called Saltwater, and was released on the Memphis Industries label in March 2009.
The Coastguards took to touring for the rest of 2009, combining headline tours with support duties for the Magic Numbers, the Dodos, Duke Special, the Leisure Society, and the Broken Family Band among others. They then began work on a second record in January 2010. Shakes, released on Dan’s own screen-printed, limited-release label Editions in October 2010, was inspired in equal parts by soul and country classic songwriters. It was named Rough Trade’s Album of the Year.
Inspired by time spent in Marfa, Texas between 2010 and 2011, Sudden Fiction (released on 7 November) is the third solo album from Dan. Initially conceived as a reaction to the baron, beautiful and widescreen landscape of Texas, Sudden Fiction continues to strip back and economise on the sound produced on Shakes. Using a stripped back palette of piano, guitar and pedal steel, the only addition to complete the Sudden Fiction sessions was a solo cello, a loving nod to Lee Hazelwood’s Cowboy in Sweden. This year, Dan has also embarked on tours with I Am Kloot, Phosphorescent and Drive By Truckers.
