Album Review: Fatima's Hand by Dean McPhee

Dean McPhee is a solo electric guitarist from Yorkshire – still a relatively rare sighting compared with the legions of acoustic soloists and singer-songwriters. Partly as a result of this, his music has an engaging otherworldliness, but this is greatly enhanced by his use of reverb and tremolo effects and by his patient approach to composition and performance. McPhee is emphatically not interested in shredding – he seems much more concerned with a particular quality of mood and feeling that can be drawn from his instrument and the technology associated with it.

Full Review >>

This compact five-track album is the second full-length collection of solo instrumental work from the talented West Yorkshire-based guitarist. One imagines that the relatively slow rate of his releases comes down partly to the time taken in fastidiously getting them to the point where he can record the tracks perfectly, without the need of overdubbing. The slowly unfurling pieces multiply the bright tone of a closely recorded Telecaster by the smoke-and-mirrors of effects, through the warmth and delicacy of a valve amp.

Full Review >>