Dan Sealey emerges from lockdown with a heartfelt and timely examination of how to remain positive in a dark world.
You could be forgiven for not recognising the name Dan Sealey, although he was, from 2003 to 2015, the bass guitarist for successful pop-rock group Ocean Colour Scene. Prior to that he was rhythm guitarist in a local four-piece band from Redditch called Late. His break largely came after Late supported OCS on tour in 2001 before he was drafted into the band following the departure of original member Damon Minchella. In 2012 he featured on OCS band member Simon Fowler’s debut album called “Simon Fowler’s Merrymouth” and contributed two or three of his own compositions. A second album followed as Merrymouth but Fowler went back to OCS in 2014 and then Sealey left OCS in 2015 to focus on the now renamed Merrymaker, though without recording an album for release. So he went on the road, performing at numerous music festivals, reforming the Music Hall band Cosmotheka (his dad was co-founder with his uncle, who had sadly passed away) and playing the full range of all his musical ventures.
But the pandemic led him in a different direction. Used to performing and with a beloved following who listened intently not only to the music but to the amusing anecdotes that littered his show, Sealey found the turbulence of COVID and its restrictions difficult to handle, so he sought quietude by turning to transcendental meditation after having read George Harrison’s book. When it came to putting together his first solo album, he named it after a Harrison song ‘Beware of Darkness’ from “All Things Must Pass”. And it is an uncanny coincidence that Sealey’s voice sounds like Harrison throughout the album.
And what a very good album it is, filled with excellent songs around a general theme of finding ways to avoid being brought down into darkness by the world around and looking for signs of hope to regain control of your personal negativity. Kicking off with one of the most Harrison-like vocals, the lovely tune ’Looking Inward’ encapsulates Sealey’s experience with meditation and what he learned from Harrison’s book “The existential is fundamental / To choose your future destination / If you can learn not to be scared / Forgive and love, you’re almost there / Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid”. You could imagine this track on Harrison’s above-mentioned album.
‘Yesterday Came’ is about letting go of things “I am a man who is changing so fast / Leaving behind the mistakes of the past”. Another Harrison sound-alike and rather slower than the opener, with a stirring chorus. ‘Better day’ speaks to new beginnings, slightly more upbeat and another lovely tune “Someday you will find a place / Maybe just a friendly face / And you’ll find you’re living for a better day”. Jack Blackman plays eloquent slide guitar on this one and you have to admit by this stage that Sealey has a great way with a tune.
The album continues with songs of varied hue, but with all of them describing the inner battle to feel better about yourself and while recognising the difficulty of changing what you cannot, at least identifying those issues with compassion and understanding. ‘Keep on Reading’ is a bluesy attack on the control of the media, with some lovely guitar from Sealey. ‘People’ is dark, led off by a powerful opening on the harmonica by guest Rikki Hamsel. It has a slightly waltzy feel and exhorts people to recognize how to solve the problem of politicians, leaders, religious zealots (anybody in fact) making the same mistakes over and over again.
On ‘Into the Wild’ Sealey looks at the idea of continuing his journey towards finding peace by venturing into nature but realizing his shortcomings and deciding to stay home: “instead I think I might be lonely in the wild / and I’d probably miss my friends after a while / So I don’t think I’d like it in the wild, so maybe i’l just spend the day inside / Its far too cold for me to go out in the wild, in the wild’. ‘All stand up’ is rather like a companion piece to ‘Keep on Reading’ but invites people to rise up against all forms of inequality. This is another great tune with Byrds-like overtones. ‘They don’t care‘ is very melancholic about being left behind in the world and the album closer ‘Inside My Head‘ comes full circle to the first track but with tongue firmly in cheek. It also has a glorious sound straight out of the Sgt Pepper songbook.
This is a very fine album with some beautiful instrumental work – all by Sealey himself apart from former Merrymouth band member John McCusker on fiddles, whistles and harmonica. Antonia Kirby is on vocals. Lyrically it is very folksy and occasionally a little simplistic, but enhanced by Sealey’s passionate and heartfelt delivery of his hope for the future, laced with a little side helping of humour and some great production by Sealey himself that elevates it to a more folk-pop sound. Give it a try – you will not be disappointed and if you might have been missing the sound of 60s Beatles and 70s Harrison, then this will more than make up for the absence.
