Deptford Goth: Life After Defo – review

Kitty Empire

Sunday, 17 Mar 2013

(Merok)

Several factors militate against this debut album by Daniel Woolhouse, aka Deptford Goth. There's that name – doubly off-putting and untrue: Woolhouse does not live in Deptford, nor is he a goth, exactly. Rather, this album's crepuscular jag recalls Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago gone post-dubstep. If that sounds like the xx and James Blake are touchstones the size of mausoleums here – they are. For all these derivations, however, Life After Defo convinces, its downcast, sweet-bleak beauty becoming more individual with every play.

Contributor

Kitty Empire

Kitty Empire is the Observer's pop critic. She has written for NME and occasionally crops up on Radio 4, 5Live, BBC 6Music, and has appeared on BBC2's The Culture Show and Newsnight Review. @kittyempire666

Kitty Empire

Sunday, 17 Mar 2013

The GuardianTramp

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