:: Mia Dyson - Struck Down (incl. limited edition bonus CD)

Mia Dyson

When Australian artists toy with Americana they run the risk of coming unstuck, creating nothing more than the aural equivalent of a child’s plastic sheriff costume. Not so with Mia Dyson. With this third album, Dyson has created a work of assured maturity, steeped in Americana, though never sinking to parody or pastiche. Dyson’s vocals have a real depth and soul that transcends the genre she chooses to work within, creating music of gut wrenching authenticity, even giving the likes of Lucinda Williams a run for her money. The overall mood here is one of world weary melancholy with Dyson’s battle scarred vocals sounding like an astonishing cross between the aforementioned Ms Williams and an exhausted Janis Joplin. Notable exceptions are People Will Turn On You and the raucous World’s On Fire, the former sounding like a bone fide 70’s rock classic with Dyson in Faces-era Rod Stewart mode. The quality of song writing throughout is exemplary, as is the musicianship, though it is Dyson’s voice that is the real star, her relatively low register rasp suggesting hard-won life experience beyond her years. Struck Down is a real diamond in the red dirt, with Dyson making other more established roots artists sound like jejune dilettantes.