Exposé print issues (1993-2011)
Peter Daltrey — The Rhymer in the Long-Tongued Room
(Bandcamp Think Like a Key TLAK1188, 2024, CD / DL)
by Henry Schneider, Published 2025-02-11
Peter Daltrey is getting prolific at his ripe old age of 78. His new album, The Rhymer in the Long-Tongued Room, is his third release in the last two years and his fifteenth solo album, 27th album if you include his work with Kaleidoscope and Fairfield Parlour. The Rhymer is a bit of a departure from his other recent albums in that the music is more of an acoustic singer-songwriter folk-rock mode. He is definitely following his own muse and the results are fantastic! There is never a dull moment on the album as he mixes elements from Krautrock, Nick Drake, Bob Dylan, and early 70s trippy psych. The album kicks off with “Geranium Rain,” a psychedelic garden party that prepares you for “Give Me Your Tune” — our intrepid troubadour Daltrey singing a gentle love song. Next is the haunting ballad “Angelina” that could leave you weeping. After the first few bars of the fourth track, “Mr. Nice,” you would swear that this is a buried treasure from the 60s folk revival. Then we meet “The Bird-Hearted Man” with Daltrey on ukulele singing this emotional and haunting song. One the many highlights on the album is the next song, “Nothing Ever Seems to Rhyme,” a coffee-house lament with a lyric that just jumped out at me: “My friends have all gone to that dance hall in the sky.” Next in line is the trippy “Bethlehem,” with Daltrey strumming his electric guitar and accompanied by strings. Shifting gears a bit, the next song is the toe-tapping good-timey skiffle song “Green Tea,” a song about growing old and reflecting on his youth. Then Daltrey surprises the listener with the surreal and atmospheric “The Moon Fell,” followed by the sad and hypnotic “These Chelsea Butterflies.” And the album closes with the enigmatically titled “Magda Bruer in the Rain,” another sad love song. The Rhymer in the Long-Tongued Room is your ticket to a world where folk meets psychedelia, every lyric is a trip down the rabbit hole of Daltrey's imagination, and another excellent release on Think Like a Key.
Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases
Related artist(s): Peter Daltrey
More info
http://peterdaltrey.bandcamp.com/album/the-rhymer-in-the-long-tongued-room
These are the most recent changes made to artists, releases, and articles.