THIS WEEK I'M LISTENING TO...DOOL Summerland (Prophecy Productions)

If the old proverb that there’s nothing new under the sun is actually true, then how do you explain Dool? A peerless band with a beguiling sound and a diverse catalogue of exciting and thought-provoking songs, the Dutch outfit (whose debut album ‘Here Now, There Then’ was my top album of 2017) are back in the racks once more with its hotly-anticipated follow-up, ‘Summerland’.

Another sublime release, ‘Summerland’ features a slightly tweaked band (Ryanne van Dorst – vocals/guitar, Nick Polak – guitar, Omar Iskandr – guitar, JB van der Wal – bass, and Micha Haring – drums), but from the opening seconds of opener ‘Sulphur & Starlight’ the song structures and van Dorst’s voice mark the album out as so obviously the work of Dool. I guess it’s fair to say that ‘Summerland’ is an extension of their classy debut, and shows the band taking stock of what they’ve achieved thus far and digging deeper into it, mining further their vein of rich, dark material. It’s also a beautifully-paced album. While each song has much to commend it (the Hammond organ, courtesy of Swedish keyboard wizard Per Wiberg, in ‘Be Your Sins’; the exquisite guitar solo in ‘God Particle’; the opening slow prowl of second single ‘Wolf Moon’) the band save the best till last, allowing ‘Summerland’ to build slowly and come to climax with the soul-wrenching refrain of eight-minute closing cut ‘Dust & Shadow’.

Apparently, the band’s name is derived from the Dutch word for wandering. Another proverb (which the band have modified for their website allwhowanderaredool) springs to mind: ‘not all who wander are lost’. Some, like Dool, have their sights set on much greater things.

© John Tucker April 2020