Sunday 13 September 2009

Room 7½, Dot Allison


There’s validation here that Pete Doherty hasn’t lost his way with words. Not so much on his guest appearance, where he sings “I wanna be your man”, a line some old 1960s band already used, but in his description of Dot Allison as “like some gifted child locked in the attic of the music industry”. It’s a attractively expressed image to describe one of those singers who never quite look to have the resources, ambition, thickness of skin or sheer bloody mindedness necessary to habitus up real career momentum. Allison understandably has the talent, and Room 7½’s band, including the PJ Harvey collaborator Rob Ellis and some former Bad Seeds, create a lovely setting for her burly but bewitching voice. Doherty’s guest slot, and one by Paul Weller, add enough variety to counter Allison’s lack of a vocal second gear.

Friday 4 September 2009

Paul Weller-featuring album online


Dot Allison has made her extroverted album, 'Room Seven And A Half', useable to listen to in full online before its official release.The album, out on Monday (September 7), features Pete Doherty on the songs 'I Wanna Break Your Heart' and 'Portrait Of The Sun', which he co-wrote. Paul Weller seem on 'Love's Got Me Crazy'.To hear the album in full, made available to NME.COM via music streaming site We7, click below. Users exterior the UK can hear 30 second clips of each song.