Dik Cadbury is a veteran musician, singer and actor. He initially came to prominence as a member of Decameron and has worked as a session player with Peter Bellamy, Brenda Wooton, June Tabor and Steve Ashley among many others. He’s currently a member of the Julie July Band. Winds Of Change is his second solo album and has been available for quite a while so consider this as a public service announcement as it really is a cracker. Let’s face it; good music never goes out of fashion.
Dik’s style on this album is definitely folk-rock: rock music with clever lyrics packed with ideas. It opens with the title track, a possible explanation of our reaction to the modern world. You might think of it as one for the DJs who never go beyond the first track of an album but with ‘Where’s It All Gone Wrong?’ he really opens up. The song is about a particularly bitter divorce: “a vampire lawyer” sets the scene in the first line. From then on you really have to pay attention.
Dik is big on metaphor in his lyrics. ‘New Car’, for example, compares making a fresh start for whatever reason with buying a new car. The problem is that a new car grows old and breaks down eventually. You can take it from there. ‘Rollercoaster’ possibly overworks its fairground metaphor as applied to relationships but that doesn’t detract from a fine song. ‘Connected’ takes its foot off the gas for a while, it’s based on acoustic guitar, mandolin and Karen Tweed’s accordion. ‘Rise Above’ returns to another theme that runs through the album as Dik counsels us to put the trials and tribulations of life behind us and follows that with ‘Sam Cooke Said’ – reminding us that a change will come.
It should be said that Dik is very much at the centre of all the music but there are a lot of guests helping out. Keith Baker and Ben Humphreys provide drums where they are needed and there’s former Decameron bandmate, Al Fenn, on one track and Steve Hackett on another. I can’t possibly list them all. Winds Of Change is an album that makes for excellent listening. Dik Cadbury could be the biggest star you haven’t heard of yet.
Dai Jeffries
Artist’s website: https://dikcadbury.com/
‘Thinking’ – official video:
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