DEN MILLER – Bless The Rains (own label)

Bless The RainsDen Miller is a singer/songwriter/ multi-instrumentalist from West Yorkshire. We’ve mentioned him before but Bless The Rains is the first of his albums we’ve got our hands on. Den plays nine instruments and is supported on just one track by Kurt Tabbada Wood who also did all the techie stuff.

He kicks off with the domestic ‘The First Cup Of Tea’ and being a coffee drinker I’m happy to gloss over it but having settled the listener down with a nice cuppa he really puts his foot on the gas. ‘Hey, This Is Africa’ starts out sounding like a song in praise of “amateur” aid workers but then changes into a song condemning the ignorance of such people. “Africa’s one country, they all speak ‘African’/They’re all diseased and hungry, they have too many young” and it continues in the same vein for some time until finally Den points out that our protagonist “flew back out with far more than he gave them in return”. I’ll pause now while you go out and buy this album and consider the celebrities who have done exactly what Den describes.

If this is the best track on the album then ‘Where Do We Send That Train?’ isn’t far behind. It’s based on the idea of the trolley problem – do you act to kill one person or allow five to die? If you follow it though the problems become more absurd and Den presents some rather more serious problems involving hard choices and difficult decisions. ‘When The Tide Turns’ pushes the problem further and asks if we know what truth actually is any more. You really should be out buying this album.

‘I Bless The Rain’ is, I suppose, about learning from hard-won experience while ‘The Power That Hope Brings’ takes an opposite view. Or does it? Optimism is often misplaced but Den points to a Nairobi slum where hope is all they have. ‘Wide Window’ is equally grim, telling of a man in prison or, more likely a prison camp but here’s the question: as Bob Dylan sang “Sometimes I think this whole world is one big prison yard” and we ask if he is a prisoner or a guard. ‘We Could Stay Here’ and ‘All It Took Was Time’ are both philosophical musings and then Den goes back on the attack with ‘Still A Beautiful World’ despite the worst intentions of politicians and corporate moguls.

I’ve written a lot about the songs but not so much about the music – words are always my first port of call – but Den is his own backing band and his arrangements are exactly what he wants: supportive of the songs but not intrusive. Bless The Rains is very easy to listen to but I hope I’ve made it clear that it also provides much food for thought.

Dai Jeffries

Artist’s website: www.denmiller.com

‘The First Cup Of Tea’ – official video:

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