The previous album from Perthshire (my second home!) lad David Luximon, Duty of Care, was a long term fixture in my turntable, however, like happens so often, events arose to avoid me from writing about it. With the arrival of A Certain Frame of Reference I was damn sure I wouldn’t make the same omission this time around, so here it is, like many of my reviews this year, better mate than never.
Opening with a yearning and atmospheric fiddle, the craving longing at the heart of I’m Taking You For a Drive had me hooked from the off, the song is heartachingly beautiful, a sense of burning desire and love palpable in the sweet melody and adoring lyrics. The deep seated beauty within David’s music is kept alive within the glorious soaring steel guitar of Paper Moon, a song which brings to mind the bard of County Durham himself, the inimitable Martin Stephenson. The steel guitar shines once again in the radiant country charm of Heels, alongside elegantly brushed drums.
The whole album is a work of alluring charm and delicate elegance that has a deep rooted feeling warmth, love and belonging, the sympathetic arrangement of the instruments, from strings to guitar to keys, The Mirror a perfect case in point complement David’s the see and comforting vocal exceptionally well.
I leaned a new word while writing this, Petrichor, “the earthy scent produced when rain falls on dry soil”, perhaps it’s because it was fresh in my mind but I could almost sense the smell, the song feeling like one of those long hazy summer days when the rain comes as a almost a relief from the overbearing heat. The hazy glow from Petrichor bleeds into the the 1950s dream rock feel of the opening to Just Say the Word, with some great pop culture references in the lyrics, the song opens up into a melody that Alex Turner would kill for.
I’m a sucker for the deep resonance of mellow strings so the short interlude of Requiem for a Dreamer (or Two) struck a chord, and was the ideal intro to the flawless People Need People Like You, with a lyric that really struck home. As someone who is socially awkward and anxious, and will often do all I can to avoid people, life wouldn’t be the same without many of the people I’ve met along life’s long highway, this song had me bringing to mind many faces of those who make a difference.
Penultimate song Sowing for Butterflies (Pt 1 & 3) once again captures the imagination, David’s thought provoking lyrics once again hitting their mark, partnered with a shivering guitar riff and soaring melody. The album unfortunately has to come to and end at some point, and what an ending, steel guitar once more forming the core of the inspirative Dreams and Ribbons an unblemished end to an immaculate album which soars off into the ether staying with you long after the song ends.