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Richard Dawson & Circle

Two entities with a sui generis approach converge in this eccentric vortex. Though operating in distinct geographies & scenes, they share a common ground in their own theatricality, almost self-mythologizing in the hallucinatory manner both of them evade genre tropes. Hailing from Newcastle Upon Tyne, Richard Dawson embodies the figure of the troubadour in his quest to contain all humanity within song, carrying the weight of British folk – traditional songbook, Roy Harper, John Martyn or Pentangle – through deviant routes, outside of time and place, leaving masterworks like The Magic Bridge and Peasant along the way. Counting more than three decades of activity and a sprawling discography, Circle are a troupe of finnish weirdos that follow the cosmic calling of krautrock pulling shards of heavy metal, prog rock, ambient and all sorts of genre-straddling fusions along the way in a style they call “New Wave of Finnish Heavy Metal”. Deconstructing both notions of genre and the chauvinist male posturing of rock, sublimating their mannerisms to unhinged camp, Circle takes the stage dressed in spandex, spikes and all sorts of over the top clothing in a celebratory way. Henki, their collaborative record released this year and whose title can be translated as ghost or spirit deals with nature and the properties of special plants throughout history as a reflection on the cycle of life and death, pitting Dawson's voice and guitar against motorik beats, art rock oneirism, heavy metal shredding and psychedelic passages not that far removed from Miles Davis' 'He Loved Him Madly' without losing direction.