Patrick Dineen – We Never Close (Album Review)

Today’s artist delves into the theatrical notion of interpreting art, with a higher dynamic range and capacity to express oneself. The artist in question, who will be introducing us into a dimension of sheer emotion and gravitas, is Patrick Dineen.

Patrick Dineen has had a rich and varied career to date, beginning with being the vocalist and songwriter for the band ‘Kan Kan’, known for their theatrical performances. He then went on to write scores for fringe theatre in London, which also led to him rising up the ranks and becoming Composer-in-Residence at The Liverpool Playhouse. With his expertise, his songs and scores led to him being invited to join Stephen Sondheim’s Master Class in Music-Theatre. 

This was then followed by a fruitful expansion, leading to opportunities culminating itself into writing scores for many theatre productions both in the UK and internationally as well as writing scores for TV and radio drama, contemporary dance and site-specific installations.

In other aspects, he also ran his own company touring original music-led productions, including adaptation of Dostoyevsky’s novella ‘The Double’ and original dark expressionist stories.

Dineen has also produced cabaret performance events in nightclubs, recorded several solo albums, with this release marking his latest, titled ‘We Never Close‘.

It bears his signature love of dark humour and telling stories through song, and also sophisticated arrangements. 

‘We Never Close’ is an album filled with extreme ingenuity and cabaret-show esque perspectives, with a delectable and exciting soundscape. It is very mysterious at times, but also expressive in a stylistic manner. At times it truly reminds me of film noir, and jazz associated with the 40s and the 60s, and in other instances it also goes into a slight mime tangent with a French accordion influence. It definitely combines some elements of productions like James Bond, ala ‘When A Double Agent Steals Your Heart’, to be specific, the Goldfinger soundtrack sung by Dame Shirley Bassey.

However, looking over the similarities and influences, Patrick Dineen’s vocal style and flair give these songs a different take on them, one almost reminiscent of David Bowie in his later years, with his vocal delivery in ‘Tis A Pity She Was A Whore’. The slight wispyness and particular diction he presents with each song give it a more earnest feel, compared to one that is ultra-dramatic and gut-wrenching. There’s a versatility in what it lacks for simple, easy-to-understand power, and that translates itself to the various amounts of sub-genres this album goes through.

One thing I do have to point out is also the similarities to certain classical compositions, with tracks like ‘She Ran To The Bank Of Geneva’– it gives off a waltzy feel, while employing certain atonal thrills. I would also put ‘The Wooden Drum’ in this category, with a delicate soundscape that is lush but also innocent and heartfelt, similar to some of Kate Bush’s works as well. His compositions are never truly boring, with lots of room for musical variability and multi-themed perceived sensations between each work.

Another thing that is pretty admirable about this album is the fairly great mastering for such a genre. A lot of acts within this genre tend to not pay attention to the specifics of mastering for a studio audience, and that is very understandable, given the intent and where their acts usually are performed at, but the instrumentation throughout this album stays pretty consistent even going through different styles and genres. I think that deserves a round of applause.

In terms of thematic flair, I have to say that Dineen is a very intriguing songwriter, with most of his lyrics definitely passing off as poetry. They rhyme with a large creative intent, in a very descriptive and intellectually poignant manner. This is surely a situation where someone is just as competent with arrangement, lyricism and vocals, all at the same time. This trait is genuinely quite rare to find on Music Review World, let alone the music scene in general. This aspect definitely puts this body of work in a special category.

Overall, if you’re into an alternate interpretation of music and into something with a more cinematic, Broadway-esque flair with dark cabaret and TCM-era frills mixed into it, this is definitely the album for you. It comes off as beyond a mere ‘album’, almost like a film-piece embedded into sonic hardware. Definitely a delight to listen to.

SCORE/ Excellent – ‘We Never Close’ is an extremely intriguing body of work that combines many subgenres and musical styles to present a cinematic, immersive retelling of various dark humour sequences as well as stylistic situations, all executed with a high propensity for detail and extremely well-done mastering.

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