Irish artist Dotts O’Connor explores isolation, loneliness and resilience on his absorbing new EP Jodie
A concept EP that is packed full of thoughtful moments, heartfelt honesty and his distinctive charm as an artist and writer, Dotts O’Connor‘s new release Jodie is a collection of four tracks that paint a moving picture of a single, middle-aged man navigating loneliness in rural isolation, making for an emotionally resonating and powerful listen.
The EP opens with its title track ‘Jodie’, a slow-burning and intricate track that sets the tone for the release immaculately. There is a quiet optimism to the track throughout, hopeful that the tides are going to change and things are going to get better, with the artist’s compelling vocals as full of character and personality as ever, helping to flesh out what is an already moving atmosphere throughout.
The more upbeat and direct ‘I Saw It Too’ is similarly packed full of character and charm, a track that has a really homely and familiar feel to it as ii unfolds like the kind of a grand story of adventure that you hear around crowded pub tables. It does a really neat job of bridging the awkward gap between strangers and friends, evoking a sense of community and kinship while still feeling etched with a stilted, transfixing kind of loneliness.
The cinematic scope of ‘The One and Only’ unfolds at its own pace and feels all the more mesmerising for it, another track that has an intimacy to its storytelling and the stories that are crafted, making notes of the people met along the way of the journeys that he goes on and holding onto the fragments of moments they create together. There is something that feels unmistakably real and potent to the way that Dotts writes and how you can almost picture the landscapes and people that he is singing about, and it really sweeps you up as a listener.
The triumphant closer of the EP comes in the form of the sensational ‘Fail We May’, a heartfelt ode to resilience and strength that feels absorbing from the moment that it starts. Throughout the collection of tracks there are moments of hope, loneliness, catharsis and strength, but this track feels like the defiant message that we push forward regardless of what is thrown at us, and we make the most of what we can in spite of the odds or the chances of success, and it makes for a really powerful and inspiring statement to end on with fittingly gallant instrumentation.
