Four years after his debut release for the label, Oxygen Thief’s Barry Dolan will be reviving his parallel alter-ego for a new studio release, Non Canon II, out 15 May 2020. Preorder it on CD, vinyl and digital download.
A novel limited edition of ‘Eco-mix vinyl’ - created from a lucky dip blend of colours recycled from leftovers from other coloured vinyl releases - will also be available, with each vinyl press guaranteed to be individually unique.
As a forecast of the new record in-waiting, Non Canon lays out a thought provoking opening salvo with lead single: ‘Dark Force Rising’. Watch the video below.
In something of a radical transformation, Non Canon’s debut saw Dolan mellow the mood and melodies of his punk-preened Oxygen Thief project and reinvent himself with a new moniker more musically open-minded but no less lyrically stimulating. As all great sequels do, in many ways Non Canon II picks-up where its predecessor left-off. Yet, this is a very different world to the one Dolan wrote about back in 2016.
“The second Non Canon album is 10 songs about feelings, politics, and feelings about politics,” says Dolan. Our entry point and lead single, ‘Dark Force Rising’ is one of the album’s most stripped-back songs in terms of its instrumentation; its gossamer acoustic spindling leaving Dolan’s vocals bare and free from alternative interpretation as he seeks to cut straight to the album’s core themes.
“I wanted the first song that people heard from it to represent all of the album’s themes. ‘Dark Force Rising’ is a song about standing up against bigotry in all its forms and trying to be brave enough not to agree to disagree with viewpoints we find abhorrent for the sake of an easier life.”
A peaceful protest song that highlights the importance of acceptance, togetherness and community, ‘Dark Force Rising’ emphasises its values with the hair-on-end sounds of collective voices singing in unison; but this is one choir quite unlike any listeners may have encountered before. Before completing the track, Dolan reached out to his friends all around the world asking for vocal recordings to reiterate his message. Overwhelmed with contributions, he then painstakingly layered the tones together at his UK studio to create a kind-of digital choir out of the ether (or Ethernet if you like). And the results are striking. Creating a stirring climax to the song, voices come together from continents apart with one a powerful message of solidarity and hope that together deal a deft blow to the alt-right, men’s rights activists, anti-trans lobbyists, and other such hate-groups.
‘Dark Force Rising’ is a formidable first indication into the widescreen narratives that will unfold on Non Canon II. With the last few years proving to be a mine of inspiration for a songwriter who has made a career as a commentator of social change, Dolan proves he has spent his time away wisely and channels his experiences on this follow-up.
“I wrote and demoed the album in early January 2019” says Dolan, “a time of dark mornings, dark early evenings, and with the first (of what turned out to be several) Brexit deadlines looming ominously on the horizon.” The wistful and elegant slow-burn of album opener ‘Never Say Never Again’ captures the mood, and is one of many to offer ruminations on mental health issues framed in a world that long since seems to have lost its mind. “it was inspired by a medication review with my GP when I literally had to say that I didn’t know how well things were working because of how much there is to genuinely to worry about at the moment.”
Inversely, songs like ‘Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ search for ways we can help ourselves when things begin to spiral out of control. “It’s about remembering to take a deep breath and not let things overwhelm you… kind of a self-care anthem”. Elsewhere, there’s topical reflections on global social issues such as the aforementioned LGBTQ+ defending ‘Dark Force Rising’ and its haunting companion track ‘A Teapot and an Open Mind’, written after a difficult conversation with someone who Dolan believed was “old enough to know better”, both of which put the sword to internet trolls and those who revel in the preaching of hatred.
And there’s time for broader topics too, from songs mulling over the changes we experience as we continue to grow into adulthood and try to find our calling (‘The Cavalier Years’), to straight-up love songs like the weightless finger-picked folk of ‘Sharpie’ (an intended part-2-of-sorts to ‘Crayola’ from Non Canon’s debut).
As with his debut, Non Canon II is playfully packed with sci-fi and pop culture references that add layers of humour and intrigue at every turn. With a litany of references pilfered from James Bond, to Star Wars, Doctor Who, the Bible, and Indiana Jones across the record, fiction fans will read the tracklisting alone like a list of crossword clues waiting to be cracked. Showcasing Dolan’s deft ability to capture the microscopic and macroscopic of the world around us with earnest aplomb and tangible relatability, Non Canon II is demonstrative of a songwriter now assured in his craft; but also an artist with a burning desire to explore new avenues in sound. Using the record to delve even deeper into the folkier and more traditional callings of his first Non Canon outing, the record plays with loping and bluesy acoustica as on ‘Kingdom of The Crystal Skull’, haunting chamber-pop on ‘Self Untitled’, to arrangements that wouldn’t be unfamiliar in a smoky New Orleans blues bar (‘The Saying Of The Seers’).
Assisting his quest, Non Canon II finds Dolan joined by a host of guest musicians throughout who each offer their unique talents. Neil Elliott and Ben Whyntie, previously of Barry’s heavy rock/metal outfit Oxygen Thief; Pete Fraser (touring member of Field Music and vocalist of super-noisy-math-metal trio Down I Go); Gareth Amwel Jones (My First Tooth/Lucky Shivers); drums by Jon Clayton (Hurtling, Chris T-T & the Hoodrats); cellos by Hannah Johns (The Leylines); violin/viola by Ryan Brooks (Left Side Brain/Super Goliath); and piano by Alex Ball (composer and popular YouTuber). Non Canon II was self produced by Barry Dolan, and recorded in studios in Bristol (Bink Bonk), London (OneCat), and Portsmouth (Old Blacksmiths Studios), along with home studios in Bristol and Stockholm. The album was expertly stitched together and mixed by Neil Elliott at Old Blacksmiths Studios, before mastering by Dan Coutant at New York’s Sun Room Audio.
Exploring new frontiers and themes with real depth, Non Canon II is sure to establish itself among fans as a worthy and welcome addition to the franchise. But with the world in such a precarious state, will this be the dramatic finale, or next in line of a trilogy? “Sequels have been on my mind quite a lot when writing and making this record to be honest hence settling on the title Non Canon II,” says Dolan. “I love drawing lines between events, songs, and the people who play on them - there are guest musicians on this record who I’ve known and hung out with regularly for over 20 years, there are some who I’ve gotten to know fairly recently through the internet, and this record wouldn’t be quite the same without any of them. Hopefully it’s a story that will continue.”
Non Canon II tracklisting
1. Never Say Never Again
2. The Cavalier Years
3. Dark Force Rising
4. The Sayings of the Seers
5. MMXIX
6. Sharpie
7. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
8. Self Untitled
9. A Teapot and an Open Mind
10. And Another Thing…
Non Canon is the solo project of Barry Dolan. Hailing from Bristol, Dolan has been a prominent figure on the UK scene since emerging with his Oxygen Thief project in 2006. Over the years Dolan has supported the likes of Frank Turner, Mongol Horde, InMe, Johnny Foreigner, Chris T-T, and has established a devoted fan base of his own. A talented songwriter and performer, Dolan has been championed by the likes of BBC Introducing and BBC 6 Music (Tom Robinson). Signing with the Xtra Mile Recordings label in 2013 for Oxygen Thief’s Accidents Do Not Happen, They Are Caused mini-album, Dolan has since released a string of EPs and albums on the label, including the first Non Canon LP, which marked a more traditional and acoustic-based outlet for the singer.