Windmill- Puddle City Racing Lights

Windmill, is the project from London's Matthew Thomas Dillon. His Puddle City Racing Lights has been out for a bit overseas, and has just only recently hit American shores. Being relatively new to Windmill, I have heard a lot of varied opinions on Dillon's distinct voice, often being compared to acts such as Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev and Danielson to name a few. While his voice does fall in the same register at times, it is unfair to lump Dillon's work in with those artists and not judge it on it's own merit.
Dillon, who had been recording on his own for ten years or so prior to the album coming out, is clearly gifted musically and is a talented songwriter, crafting heartfelt piano lead folk-pop. And getting back to Dillon's voice for a minute, it has a distinct child like innocence about it that adds to the already vulnerable material. His lyrics and music are wrapped in wanderlust, and when you add his fascination of airports and travel, a theme that runs throughout the album, like on "Plastic Pre Flight Seats" and "Boarding Lounges" it drives the message home. Much of the tracks have a sweeping emotional arch, with lush string orchestrations and an erupting chorus, as in "Fluorescent Lights", "Planning Stopped", "Tokyo Moon" and album highlight "Asthmatic".
Heartbreaking material has never before felt so good as on Puddle City Racing Lights, it is melancholy yet joyous, soft yet loud, Dillon proves to be a craftsman of emotions. An album to be taken on your next flight or road trip for sure, a journey worth going on.

Listen to Windmill.