Between Sunshine and Shadow: The Art of Ramblerman’s Midday Melancholy
2 min read
Even in the first notes, there is an immediate revelation of the introverted, sunrise-contemplative jewel of music in Midday Melancholy, the emotional sunrise in minor keys. Ramblerman (the artistic name of Canberra songwriter Stephen Dobson) shows us in this one single how he has that rarest of gifts: to make the ineffable touchable. His years as a sensitive storyteller, a person of passage between the visual art, design, and music worlds, are in full expression here. The boundaries of mood and melody, and sorrow and solace, dissolve and melt into each other. You must be spying on a moment of interior clarity, between sunshine and shadow, as the song goes on. The fact that Ramblerman is giving all the streaming money to charities that help the mentally ill until the end of the year adds even further seriousness to the song: this is art as mercy, music as testament.
The lyrics of the song, Midday Melancholy, are quite simple and quite resonant, however, in a misleading way. It is as though a journal entry made into verse, not too long, bare, but with substance behind each picture. The simplicity of the words lets you sit in the silence amongst them, in the places where meaning can not always be imposed. It is sparsely musical; there are acoustic strums, light ambient touches, and there is enough harmonic support to provide it with an emotional form. There’s no rush. The song breathes. Its rhythm allows every word to be clearly heard, dwells on pauses, and focuses on the hidden strength of the mild dynamics. Other critics have described it as a suave ode to suffering in reviews, where the voice of Ramblerman has a personal melancholy, without being too overworked. Sinusoidal Music The recording (courtesy of Guy Lilleyman at Amberly Studio in Canberra) gives it a raw directness, forcing the audience into intimacy with the performance. Musical signature lies, however, not in technical fireworks, but in the emotional sincerity of each break, each modified chord.
To sum up, “Midday Melancholy” solidifies the position of Ramblerman as both an indie singer-songwriter and as an artist who recognizes the potential of silence and sadness to be even more effective than big movements. It is a song that gives refuge– to listen, to touch, and to think. In case perseverance was the subject of Lemonade, this is the silent encounter with pain, and the strength of giving it a name. So Ramblerman does not only ask you to listen, he asks you to walk with him in a reckoning, in that youthful helplessness, to discover something like redemption. This is no common song, and a very important one.
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