Press release -
'Deep Breath' - a protest song from The Dowling Poole
'Deep Breath' is the new song from British band The Dowling Poole, the multi instrumentalists, songwriters and producers Willie Dowling and Jon Poole.
'Deep Breath' is released free on Bandcamp on Friday 5th of June.
"'Deep Breath' is a song of protest, and we feel it sums up in large thick brush-strokes, the upheavals we are all enduring", says Willie Dowling. "The extraordinary events of recent times, and particularly the last couple of months, have been so momentous and life changing that we all find ourselves reeling from the fumes of one catastrophe while being engulfed in another at an ever increasing rate."
The video features footage contributed by fans of the band worldwide who have documented their recent experiences of protest and lockdown.
"We wanted the video to reflect this strange time that is affecting us all, across the globe, one way or another", says Jon Poole, “and we believe the footage has captured that. We're really grateful to everyone who contributed".'
Glorious album reviews
'Deep Breath' does not feature on The Dowling Poole's newly released third album 'See You See Me', which has received glorious reviews, including:
• “Made In Heaven” and “Keeping The Stupid Stupid” about the state of our political mess is right on the nose". "Highly Recommended (unless you are a Trump fan.)" 8 out of 10 /Powerpopaholic
• "If you wish to experience joy unconfined, and Lord knows we could all use a bit, The Dowling Poole continue to be a reliable two-man lemonade enema". "There's much evidence that there are poetic souls at work." /Dom Lawson, Prog magazine
• "The Dowling Poole keep it gleaming until you unearth the horrors in the lyrics. It's like wading into the shallows until someone shouts 'shark'!" /Phil Wilding, Classic Rock
"Releasing an album in the middle of a pandemic was not the most excellent timing, but the album feels very relevant", says Jon Poole. "Songs like 'Hope', 'Human Soup' and 'Keeping The Stupid Stupid' are titles that speak for themselves. Even 'Made in Heaven' was inspired by the perverse, uncomfortable relationship between the USA and the UK."
Music and politics
"It's often said - largely by right of centre people - that music and politics are an unholy mix, but I think that’s more to do with protecting the status quo", says Willie Dowling.
"And unless we’re talking exclusively about teenage manufactured pop songs, aimed only at making money, how could a song not reflect to some extent, the point of view of the artist? When people say they don’t like politics, they generally mean party politics, which is completely understandable, but almost everything that touches our lives is political by definition, and any songwriter worth their salt will be saying something in their songs about these immense events and the way that they touch their lives."
Willie Dowling continues: “Music is a powerful way of connecting people, and since the 1960’s, established power worldwide, is aware of this and is keen to ignore, mock or condemn any critique of power made in song form”.
“Musicians are free to speak up about what they believe in, or the injustices that surround them just as much as anyone else. History seems to suggest that the only way we advance or evolve as a society is when people come together in significant enough numbers to show the ruling classes that we are not prepared to take their lies, hypocrisy and deceit anymore. Songwriting, just like all art, has it’s part to play in that process."
The Dowling Poole links
The Dowling Poole's third album 'See You See Me' is out now, available to purchase directly from the band, via digital platforms and in record stores.
