"In Your Head" by Dolly Mavies
Review
Today would be a red letter day for Dolly Mavies fans with the release of "In Your Head", her latest single & a taster for her upcoming album. We haven't talked about a release since 2023 and her ‘The Calm and The Storm' album.
And in addition to the tremendous musical skills of Dolly & her talented band, we must add clairvoyance considering the media storm she has negotiated in the interim.
A few reasoned thoughts first:
"In Your Head" deserves the plaudits it's about to receive on its own merits regardless of those headed her way for her moral stance.
In general terms, anyone considered (however misguidedly, considering her values) to be asked to play for a very senior figure in the government of a superpower (however much of a git the person & his government might be in practice) is obviously a highly regarded & classy act. In this instance more classy than the intended audience.
The kerfuffle should work to Dolly's advantage in that it alerts those impressed by her actions who had not previously actually encountered her music to the latter for their great enjoyment.
I'm sure that in her mind there must have been a slight anxiety regarding weight of expectations: no one of her undoubted ability would wish to be known as the scourge of J D Vance at the expense of her vocation. But hey: it's Dolly Mavies we are talking of so it's a fantastic song which will only burnish her talent.
Not being acquainted yet with all the potential single choices at her disposal, I'm not able to say much about why "In Your Head" got the nod for this significant release. Imagination helps draw parallels between the song & recent events but I imagine the song was dreamt up longer ago & quite probably recorded before they took place.
In fact this rather intense (though I could use that adjective about mush of her work) simmering track would appear to fall into the inter-personal relationships category while covering a surprising amount of emotional & cognitive territory at the same time: there are examinations of perception and comprehension, the reliability of memory and above all the interplay between imagination and fulfilment. I'm sure there are times when Dolly must have wondered if she was dreaming what was happening to her but this must have been composed while considering other matters.
It's a very "adult" song, by which I don't mean saucy (though it is a bit erotic at times) but exploring complicated ideas which underpin the genuine human experience. Which fits in pretty snugly with other voyages through the grown up psyche which make up her previous songs.
It asks quite a bit of the listener who likes top notch songs requiring repeated listens but is all the more rewarding & sustaining for so doing. Like I said: this is class stuff.
Her band are great for providing a setting for these lyrics, one which is both melodic enough to appeal even to those not prepared to immerse themselves fully, one which gives depth to those so willing and one which provides complement rather than distraction. Assuming these to be the same players as on ‘The Calm and the Storm", credit to Adrian Banks (bass, guitar, piano & percussion), Christian Gillett (guitar), Belinda Webb (drums) and Ruth Draper (backing vocals).
Unsurprisingly, Dolly has received plenty of incoming for her stance: those liable to take umbrage being generally both disproportionately abusive and lacking in much wit nor range of vocabulary & she seems to laugh much of it off. Bravo. I'd like to think that the support she has got has been more articulate as well as reasoned. "In Your Head" and the upcoming album should provide her with plenty of more opportunities to smile: already widely respected (don't forget last year's Glastonbury appearance), what we are going to be experiencing is her building on her reputation as one of the fast rising stars of original music and one with a discerning audience too.
If you read this today (Friday October 3rd) it's also Bandcamp Friday so buying it today gives Dolly & her band a bit extra of the revenue & if you aren't coming to the HMLP fundraiser for The Tin tonight & fancy attending their single launch, they are playing The Old Fire Station in Oxford. This one is for her fans not a command performance for a bigot by the way.
