Windmill - Puddle City Racing Lights

by Lisa Holmes

Americana fresh from the streets of Newport Pagnell

"Whilst this may not be a particularly startling debut it does give an accomplished ‘tunnel vision’ type focus to Windmill’s music. In fact, after a few listens songs such as ‘Fashion House’ and ‘The Planning Stopped’ develop hooks that you never knew were there."

Who knew that Wimbledon had a windmill museum, or even that such is the interest in Windy Miller’s home there are literally thousands of sites dedicated to these eco friendly relics? So far, so carbon neutral, but it does make it a little tricky to google ‘windmill’ the artist, real name Matthew Thomas Dillon hailing from Newport Pagnell and specialising in heavily U.S-influenced indie.

With a press release that names just about every successful melancholic American indie act that ever dared use pianos or strings, Guided By Voices, Mercury Rev and of course the ubiquitous Arcade Fire; the end product does not disappoint. As for banishing memories of grey council estates and British weather, it couldn’t be more successful. Instead we have a landscape of blue buildings and windswept expanses long populated by the likes of Counting Crows and latter day REM.

Coming across like a stripped down Mercury Rev with slightly less expansive strings sections than the new Arcade Fire album and a hint of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah about him, it is easy to dismiss Dillon as just another indie impressionist. But whilst this may not be a particularly startling debut it does give an accomplished ‘tunnel vision’ type focus to Windmill’s music. In fact after a few listens songs such as ‘Fashion House’ and ‘The Planning Stopped’ develop hooks that you never knew were there.

So, if ‘Plasticine Plugs’ with its chorus of “catch me / catch me / I'm jumping out”, doesn’t make it on to the soundtrack of some American teen drama by the end of the year it would be an insult to the memory of Dawson’s Creek. So it’s full (environmentally friendly) steam ahead for Windmill.

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