He was hailed as "a one-man ghost orchestra" after he produced one of the most critically acclaimed New Zealand albums of last year.
Western folk noir troubadour Delaney Davidson brings his dark blend of bittersweet angst and raw harmony to Dunedin next Friday.
"Music for me has always been inspired by the need to create a feeling or a mood. It's a cathartic thing. A purging of the devils inside," he said from Lyttelton this week.
"My music is a mix of things - dark and light, introspective and 'outrospective'. I guess it is based on folk music. I sometimes say 'Western folk noir'. The darkness of it is important to convey. The folk side is pretty important, but it's not pure folk, either. There are elements of blues, country and European and American folk influences. There are often noise elements, too."
His third album, Self Decapitation, rattled charts and sensibilities in New Zealand and overseas.
Yet, Davidson is inspired by the everyday.
"I write songs about people, I like to see where they are similar, where they overlap and what makes them the same. This difference interests me," he says.
"If you get people to relate to your songs and you do so by supplying a few suggestions, hopefully they will supply the rest of the details themselves, in a language only they will recognise, and they will relate it to themselves much better than you could ever hope to."
His unique sound and enchanting folk stories cross culture and countryside. Last year he completed a nine-month world tour through the United States, Mexico, Italy, Germany, Russia, Romania and western Europe.
"I'm a bit of a sponge and have picked up sounds from along the way to stick in my suitcase. I love to work with musicians from other places to get the authentic sounds of the different cultures: pedal steel from the United States, brass bands from Macedonia, German drinking bands and Bulgarian saxophone players."
After some chin-stroking, he nominates Tom Waits as his greatest musical influence.
"He opened so many doors for sound. Put on a Nick Cave record and he makes a world you can go into for an adventure. Put on a Leonard Cohen record and he comes into your life and puts his arms round you. But, Tom Waits changed the boundaries of sound and recording. In terms of sound, I would probably fall into his camp, although I never could sing that way."
Making his New Zealand debut on the tour will be Reverend Beat Man, who founded influential Swiss garage rock label Voodoo Rhythm Records and toured the US with Davidson last year.
Catch them
- Delaney Davidson, Reverend Beat Man and Mysterious Tapeman's "Planet of the Tapes" play at Chick's Hotel in Port Chalmers this Friday, July 8.
