Who is popular today?

(AMF/Black Butter)With shades of Jeff and Tim Buckley, the Galway-born artist writes tunes so strong they seem as familiar as old friendsThe information age has made it much more difficult for artists to cultivate mystique. Gone are the days when David Bowie could seemingly arrive fully formed with Space Oddity and Hunky Dory, with most of the record-buying public unaware of his years of struggle in bands such as the Lower Third; or when Robert Zimmerman could become Bob Dylan and invent a backstory about running away with the circus as a teenager. Today’s artists are so intensely scrutinised once they get even a glimmer of success that there’s always the chance some internet sleuth will blow a performer’s cred by unearthing a terrible video of them caterwauling through Wonderwall in sixth form. Which makes Dove Ellis so thoroughly unusual, because so little is known about him.His debut album arrives with no biography and barely any information at all apart from the track listing and a few minor details. He doesn’t appear to have ever given an interview and in one song here scolds: “Keep their cameras off my face.” His publicist, whose job thus far seems solely to be sending out music, describes Ellis as a “an introverted character”. Continue reading...