Dave Sutherland's new album Just Like A Black And White Film came out yesterday, Friday 16 October, on One Eyed Man Records – 11 self-written songs, billed as his most honest and accomplished record yet. He launches it properly this Sunday, 18 October, at Blackheath Halls' Great Hall in London, with support from Ags Connolly & The True Believers.
It was produced and recorded by Martin Levan at Red Kite Studio in Wales, with Sutherland on vocals and fingerstyle guitar alongside Holly Carter on pedal steel and guitars, Owain Hughes on piano, organs and synths, Tim Harries on bass and Jim Kimberley on drums. The tracklist runs from the show-stopping opener An Occasional Clown through the country-tinged The Mirror and the nostalgic When We Used To Play to the uplifting Keep Right Rolling On. There's a refreshing directness to it all – no clutter, nothing getting in the way, so the strongest ideas get room to shine. It's focused and engaging, and it's really easy to go back to again and again!
He's been writing songs for 30 years and started out with a debut album produced by Bert Jansch, which is a serious name to have in your corner early on. His last album, Last Drop of Empty, was runner-up for Best UK Americana Album 2022 in the Americana UK readers' poll, and he was named UK Male Country Singer of the Year at the 2024 UK Country Music Awards, with airplay on the BBC and RTE.
Old London Town, the album's seventh track, is already out as a single – a love letter to the city, with a radio impact date of 13 November – and he's got a run of dates through December, mostly around London and the South East: the Dukes of Highgate on 8, 15 and 22 November, the Jenny Lind in Hastings on 13 November, then the WWW Gallery in Queen's Park on 3 December and back to the Dukes of Highgate on 13 and 20 December.