David Thomas Broughton’s off-kilter folk is all about the slow-burn; coaxing melodies and oddly gorgeous vocals from a shuffling music box of acoustic guitars, looping pedals and bargain-bin drum machines. The result is tooth-achingly gorgeous. He has been lumped into the ‘freak-folk’ enclosure and in doing so shines amid the offerings of those traditionally proffered under this soft-centered appellation. Taking handsome dollops of Nick Drake, John Fahey and Antony and the Johnsons, Broughton’s quixotic touch is writ large above all his compositions. Broughton leads us in through some tip-toeing guitar loops that gradually unfurl into a pink-hued vocal that recalls Antony and the Johnson’s in its stark, alien delivery, whilst coming across as appealingly naïve, representing that fabled song-writing territory where the innovative does not overshadow the enjoyable - but instead coexists. Or something.
David Thomas Broughton’s talent has garnered praise with the passing years. The way Broughton merges endless processed guitar loops with his own and very personal voice –something between Odetta and Tim Buckley- throws light upon a unique sound. After astonishing audiences at the most recent edition of fave Spanish festivals Primavera Sound or Tanned Tin, Acuarela introduces an exclusive mini-album that the English musician has recorded with Leeds experimental group 7 Hertz. Layer after layer of sound, David Thomas Broughton has defined himself as a name to keep in mind, song after song, test after test.
