Sweet Is the Anchor

Album Review

Barring Diane Christiansen's greatly reduced vocal role and lack of songwriting credits, Steve Dawson's Sweet Is the Anchor is basically the follow-up to the last Dolly Varden record, 2002's Forgiven Now. In every way, Sweet Is the Anchor is the logical follow-up to that record: even more gentle and intimate-sounding, with the duo's early twang reduced to a bit of slide guitar here, a few shuffle beats there, and quiet acoustic guitars everywhere. The title track is one of Dawson's very best, a bit of shimmering, sad pop that's as good as anything Joe Pernice has ever recorded, and while not everything here is up to that high standard ("I'll Be Right Here" is pretty lightweight, for example), Sweet Is the Anchor is as solidly entertaining as any of Dolly Varden's underrated albums. Best of all, it introduces interesting new textures into Dawson's sound, like the freaky tape-loop and found-sound coda of "Friend Like a Wheel" and the swirling strings and vaguely John Lennon-like vocals of "Love Is a Blessing."