Elegantly loose and pleasingly smoky, Duke Garwood's sixth LP, Garden of Ashes, is as crafty as it is subdued. His third release for Heavenly following a 2013 collaboration with American spirit brother Mark Lanegan and his 2015 solo breakout, Heavy Love, Ashes finds the London-based singer/songwriter deep in dusty dream-blues mode. Joined on several tracks by lush-voiced shapeshifters the Smoke Fairies, Garwood is in his bailiwick throughout the set, drifting through spacious landscapes with his rumbling poeticism and dark-toned riffs. With his seemingly effortless aural grandeur established, he manages highlights like the shadowy "Heat Us Down" and the sun-dappled "Blue" among many other well-built songs. Breaking up the mostly electric-based set is the understated "Sing to the Sky," acting as a sort of mid-album interlude. Bookending Garden of Ashes are a couple of sister songs, the hypnotic "Coldblooded" and its vanishing twin, "Coldblooded the Return," the latter of which very effectively features the Smoke Fairies' haunted harmonies, making for an inspired musical pairing. There's nothing showy about Garwood's brand of dream-blues, but there is soulfulness in his understatement.
© Timothy Monger /TiVo