Duke Special : Sweet Sweet Kisses
Duke Special, or Peter Wilson to his friends, is one of those artists whose musical potential appears limitless. A singer-songwriter whose accented voice is accompanied by excellent keys skills, his music both on record and in live performance is that rare sort able to transcend genres and batter down stereotypes, grabbing and then massaging the ear of all manner of people. Indeed, listen to his records and you’d be surprised to learn that he is a dreadlocked, eye-liner wearing Irishman born out of Dublin itself and that is a fine representation of both his work and his attitude – it is defiant but welcoming from record to record.
So, with that almost obituary-esque prelude now complete I will write about his latest single, ‘Sweet Sweet Kisses’, a single that comes alongside the supporting ‘Hearth & Home’ courtesy of V2 Music. The title could well be described as misleading as this song is one of heartbreak as the sweet kisses that litter the start of a relationship become replaced by a broken heart. It’s a subject matter covered by this artist on many occasions, but testament to him for finding new ways to do so. Here he uses a typical array of intriguing melodies and adds to that a not-so-typical woodwind section that pins each verse to the next. Overall it’s nothing Duke Special hasn’t done before in terms of the core elements but his voice allows him to make beauty and heartbreak and all manner of relationship-based emotions the key to his work. There has always been and will always be a place for this kind of music and it will remain crucial that artists like this one – those intelligent and skilled enough to go beyond the overtly simple repercussions of love and the like to offer insightfulness over obviousness – continue to provide such quality.
‘Hearth & Home’ is to my mind actually the stronger of the two songs on the record, though. Only two and a half minutes in length, it plays out like a fairytale or short story, the kind you were read as a dozing child. To call it heart-warming might be a bit cliché but there’s little else I can say that accurately describes a song that does more than sit behind its more illustrious companion. Side-by-side, this pair of songs create a joyous little package.
So yet again Duke Special has provided original, well-developed and above all beautiful music to qualify the praise afforded to him at the start of this review. He really is exceptional at times; his back catalogue is one well worth unearthing and its quality is further enhanced with the addition of ‘Sweet Sweet Kisses’. Unfortunately for Mr. Wilson his image is one that will never see him top charts or sell out arenas but you get the feeling he’s more than content at satisfying his thousands of fans. After hearing this single I think you might well count yourself amongst them.
8/10
Words: Benjamin Coley
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