The Doozer, Keep It Together

With his previous records, The Doozer made erratic psych songs by himself. Considering both his Syd Barrett baritone and his big beard, it’s easy to cast the Fenlands singer/songwriter as the latest in a long line of hermetic bedroom artists. But on Keep It Together, his first album on Woodsist, he sets up shop in his local village hall with 11 other musicians. The result is a much warmer album than his previous work, with the first acoustic major chord strums of “Burning Bright” leading into some rococo string arrangements. His lyrics only perpetuate the pastoral feel of the album – “There’s a beautiful girl in a fold-up chair/ Sitting around without a care.” And every song on Keep It Together has that same carefree attitude. It helps that his vocals are flanked by a handful of other lovely things – beautiful flourishes of strings, a choogling acoustic guitar, a second vocalist singing harmony, and a lilting piano. It’s in those instrumental details, like the tambourine and tuba of “Jobsworth,” where Keep It Together finds a feeling of community, which is a warm and welcome change to The Doozer’s recorded output.