Thomas Bartlett, who records and and performs as Doveman, will release Shelter, his first album under his own name, on July 24 via Modern Recordings/BMG. The album was made during lockdown and features eight piano nocturnes, all named after roses and written as a love letter to his partner, British actress and singer Ella Hunt. “In the total strangeness of the moment and the lockdown,” Bartlett says, “I gave myself permission to do a thing that I don’t usually do, in terms of how these pieces to me are kind of shameless in their sentimentality.”
Unsure what to do with these admittedly sentimental pieces, Bartlett let friends Sam Amidon and Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent, who worked with Bartlett on MassEducation, among other collaborations) hear the record, and they both urged him to release it. You can get a taste right now with the very pretty "Lucinda" -- listen below.