Sweet Baboo - Dennis EP
- Written by Rob Crozier
A new EP from North Wales’s finest one-man band reaches our ears. This selection entitled Dennis is a mixture of covers and previous unreleased tracks. The title track ‘We used to call him Dennis’ refers to the name of his then unborn son, as Stephen Black aka Sweet Baboo, explains in his official press release.
"Dennis was the name I gave to my son before he was born. My wife wasn't as keen as me so we went with something else."
The track itself is a jerky upbeat tale of first time parenthood. With a rather catchy chorus: "We used to call him Dennis because he played the drums". The track is a wonderful display of the talents he possess. To make modern tales with a variety of instruments with seemingly little effort on his part. ‘Do the Buzzard’ displays the comical nature pf Sweet Baboo, which he is able to brings to the vast majority of his work. However underneath this is a sweet love song about the perils of falling to fast too soon.
‘Mountain top’ brings out his more serious side with a cover of this Daniel Johnston tune. It’s a slower laid back acoustic number. Although pretty short in length at least displays his ability to create an almost haunting beauty which leaves you wanting more.
‘Don’t Be Alone (This Christmas)’ is rather late in the day and seems a rather peculiar track to include in a release in February. However apart from the jingle bells in the background and the occasional mention of the festive period this still works as a melancholy plea for being with loved ones, even if slightly too late.
‘Blowin Up My Mind’ returns with a more upbeat Sweet Baboo as he covers this Exciters track. Alongside the comical lyrics and care free attitude this track displays his talents that have set him apart from many others. This is the style of delivery that has won him the plaudits that range from BBC 6 music to nominations for the first Welsh Music Prize.
This EP finishes with the wonderful Beach Boys ballad ‘Cuddle Up’, although delivered with poise and care his voice appears strained at times. His obvious love of this track is in evidence but we wonder if this was a cover version too far.
Dennis is an obvious stop gap between what we hope are further releases. We would question whether it needed to be released in this format. His talents are obvious and we predict great things in the future. We just hope that this selection does not dilute his growing reputation.
Dennis is available from Amazon & iTunes.