We’re all a little haunted by who we were, and who we thought we’d be. We start out life so naïve and ambitious, head full of dreams, picturing ourselves as the main character in some epic adventure. As time goes by, our stories seldom lead to the glorious highs we envisioned. Life gets in the way, fresh hurdles and challenges get written into the plot, ever more pages appearing between where you are now and the happy ending you’re working towards. We coast through the years, just trying to get by, until our story becomes so unfamiliar that it feels like it was written by someone else entirely. What would our younger selves think of us now, I wonder? Perhaps that’s we get so drawn to tales of great heroes and fantastical worlds – because after too long in the real world, we start to feel like side characters in our own story. ‘Ghostwriter’ finds Megan Dixon Hood trying to reckon with the stranger described in all the ink scrawls laid before her, and where her idea of herself fits within the story so far, before resolving that the ending is still yet to be written. A stunning return to her bewitching gothic folk roots, ‘Ghostwriter’ is a powerful reminder that every new day is a blank page, and a new chance to rewrite your own story.
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Top Tracks: Megan Dixon Hood – Mind’s Eye
“My mind is like a map of every word I’ve said, reaching far and wide like a spider’s web“. It’s not often the opening line of a vibrant dance track leaves me feeling philosophical, but Megan Dixon Hood pulls off just such a feat with her kaleidoscopic new single ‘Mind’s Eye’. I was introduced recently to the writing of Victorian inventor Charles Babbage; long story short he pondered how every word we speak, every move we make, influences the air around us and makes a lasting yet invisible impression on the world. He thought that if you could somehow track every particle, you’d find a record of all those words and actions – and perhaps, with such a high level of understanding, you may even figure out what comes next. In reality, the highest level of understanding we have is of ourselves. No one knows the journey we’ve taken, the choices we’ve made that led to this moment, better than we do. As such, no one knows our own future better than us. ‘Mind’s Eye’ is a track all about trusting your gut, as the answers we seek are within us from the start. Buoyed by mesmerising synths, Megan’s soaring Aurora-esque vocals, and the energising refrain of “you know who you are“, we find this reminder: manifest the future you want, and reflect on the winding path that led here, in order to find the way forward
Top Ten Albums of 2023
It’s almost time for our Listmas season, and indeed the year as a whole, to draw to a close. While the past twelve months have had their share of ups and downs, as all years are wont to do, I think in all seriousness 2023 has been the strongest year as a whole for new releases since the blog was founded. Reflecting and reminiscing on all the fabulous music we’ve enjoyed, it feels a little baffling that it was all crammed into such a short span of time. Narrowing down our favourite albums from such a bumper offering has been no mean feat, but getting an excuse to revisit them all again has been an absolute dream. So, without further ado, here’s our top ten albums of the past year. Continue reading
Album Review: Megan Dixon Hood – East Of The Sun
Top Tracks: Megan Dixon Hood – The Garden
We all find comfort and escapism in other worlds. In the books we read, the films we watch, we cherish stories of such fantastical lands that leave us daydreaming of being whisked away there. I’d like to think however, that the people of those other worlds find themselves dreaming in turn of the Earth we know, of a world so majestic and full of beauty, clinging to tales of lush rainforests and kaleidoscopic coral reefs. Imagine how they’d feel if they knew how we treated the world they dreamt of; how we take its splendour for granted. On ‘The Garden’ Megan Dixon Hood delivers another environmentally conscious anthem in the spirit of past tracks like ‘The Wishing Tree‘. Taken from her forthcoming debut album East of the Sun, Megan’s otherworldly vocals, equal parts earth-shaking and ethereal, make her sound like a wanderer from a fairytale land trying to show us the error of our ways, before we’re left with a wasteland where no birds sing and no rivers run. From its shuddering primal drums to its vibrant and ever-shifting synth melodies, there’s a world to discover here that’s just as diverse and full of fleeting moments of beauty as the one that surrounds us now.
Live Review: Megan Dixon Hood, The Deaf Institute Manchester, 28th Oct 2021
Wow. It feels like a lifetime since I sat down to write a review of some genuine, real life, live music. Hopefully I still remember how! Hopping on the train to a different city, gathering in a venue with actual people, that buzz of anticipation that ripples through the crowd as the artists take to the stage – experiencing it all again after nearly two years apart is a strange sensation. In some ways it felt alien compared to this odd new normality we’ve become all accustomed to, but after a while it felt like stepping back into your old shoes like things had never changed. I guess when live music charms your heart that feeling never really goes away. Fingers crossed though that theory need never be put to the test again, and that this marks the triumphant return of live music in our lives. Where better to get reacquainted with the glory of gigs than the heart of Manchester, and surely there’s no better artist to jump back in with than one of the last performers I saw before everything kicked off – the wonderful Megan Dixon Hood. Continue reading
Top Tracks: Megan Dixon Hood – Third Lung
“Tapping on the glass, like animals in a cage, we put ourselves in here, to find ourselves again“. If there’s a hunger in your heart for imaginative, environmentally-conscious epics, then there’s no better artist to sate your yearning than Belwood favourite Megan Dixon Hood. While she previously tackled the topic of our role in a rapidly changing world on her stunning single ‘The Wishing Tree‘ as seen through a fantastical lens, sometimes fact is stranger than fiction. Her latest single ‘Third Lung‘ draws inspiration from the Biosphere 2 experiment, in which scientists tried to create and live within an artificial ecosystem as practice for maintaining life in space, but which ultimately failed due to a lack of oxygen. Much like many of us discovered through the course of lockdown, it shows how we take the delicate balance of the world around us for granted. How we’re a part of a grand and complex system whether we realise it or not, and the Earth in turn is a part of who we are and what keeps us going. Meanwhile the hubris of thinking you can create a new world without fully respecting and understanding the one we have now has harrowing parallels for our current approach to the changing climate. Creating a grand vibrant ecosystem all of her own, letting you discover something new with each listen, it’s exactly what we’ve come to expect from Megan Dixon Hood: soaring, poignant, downright danceable and an absolute delight.
Top Tracks: Megan Dixon Hood – Cloudwalker
The world would be a very different place without dreamers, yet they remain forever misunderstood. We all too often see daydreaming and having your head in the clouds depicted as some kind of character flaw rather than as a kind of inner strength and creativity to be admired. With ‘Cloudwalker’ Belwood favourite Megan Dixon Hood shines a light on the real power that dreamers possess. How they can break the Earthly bonds that hold them back and escape into a world of imagination. One where the expectations of others become meaningless and you can be whoever you want to be, a place with no rules or limits, and experience a sense of freedom unlike any other. In seeing the world through that lens people can weather the fiercest storms, see all the forgotten beauty and wonder in the everyday, and think outside the box and look at problems from a new angle. With Megan’s entrancing vocals, some melodic nods to Kate Bush, and an uplifting whirlwind of boundless electropop energy – this one goes out to the dreamers. Here’s a song to make you feel like cartwheeling over endless jungle canopies or dancing across oceans on the crest of a wave.
Live Review: Megan Dixon Hood, Gullivers Manchester, 24th Jan 2020
As January lingers on it still feels like a time for looking forward and thinking on the future. That suits us just fine as in a way Belwood is all about looking forward as we champion new music and up-and-coming artists. It seems fitting then for my first gig of the year, of the decade even, to be Megan Dixon Hood, our ‘best new artist‘ pick for 2019. Based on her grand and mystical music released thus far, most notably her most recent powerhouse single ‘The Wishing Tree‘, I was adamant that 2020 was hers for the taking. Little did I know that she was planning on starting early by beginning the year with her first UK headline tour. Naturally I just had to make my way across to Manchester to see her in action. Continue reading
Belwood Music Awards 2019
It’s New Year’s Eve! 2019 is finally coming to a close, a new decade is soon upon us, and most importantly today is Belwood Music’s 5th birthday. (Okay, so we had our birthday gig just over a month ago, but if the Queen can have two birthdays then so can we!). What better way to celebrate than by looking back at all the music that earned a place in our hearts over the past 12 months. Continue reading
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