def.fo – ‘Music for Dinosaurs’ [Album Review]

At the start of this year, I sat down for a chat with Tom Powell (aka def.fo) as he released his debut album Eternal, and you may remember this was an album that never left my turntable for a long while.

Tom recently sent me a copy of his second long player, Music for Dinosaurs, and once again it’s an absolute banger.

In that interview, Tom explained his plans for a three-album cycle. Eternal was based on the idea of Mars-dwelling humans fleeing their destroyed planet for a fresh start on Earth. I asked Tom what the new album is about…

“Dinosaurs was recorded as a double album – however, after much though I decided it could be a bit too much music, so split it into two records, Eternity and Music for Dinosaurs. I suppose the similarities and running thread between the two records is the fictional settings and concepts in each, and the fact that both records feature a yin and yang kind of thing – with both records featuring a dark to light / dystopia to utopia journey. As the cross over of recording sessions and also personnel for the music and artwork, they feel like a ‘pair’ of ‘couple’ of albums to that coexist in the same ether, and even though it’s not the double album, they still feel related”

If this fails to make sense, Tom expands in his press release…

“This ambitious concept album teleports audiences up, up and away into a howling, dystopian nightmare set on Mars, where a troubled civilisation teeters on the sharpened edge of extinction. Time runs short, and in a desperate, breathless bid for survival, the inhabitants must embark on a daring interstellar quest, ultimately discovering a hope they can cling to on their bright new Eden, planet Earth.”

The burning question is, does it match the dizzying splendour of its predecessor? Well, yes. And then some.

Stylistically, the album still echoes a distinct Liverpool sound, but this time round, it veers even more closely to Pink Floyd flourishes, particularly in the production work of Tom and his Dad, Steve Powell. “Out of this World” is almost anthemic and is the closest to that Floyd feel on the album with echoing dreamy vocals and blossoming instrumentation.

Tom’s sound also recalls the much-overlooked Liverpool band “The Fernweh,” and listening to Music for Dinosaurs has led to me buying The Fernweh’s hidden classic second album, ‘Torschlusspanik!’ – Everything links in this City.

def.fo (aka Tom Powell) in July 2023, photo by John Johnson

The “fun” dinosaur-themed artwork by Daria Kupets hides what is largely a brooding journey into the unknown. Side Two opener, “Exile to Eden,” a spoken word piece by Shantaram author Gregory David Roberts takes that journey that Tom mentions from dark into light. Shantaram also happens to be Tom’s favourite book. The song segues into “This New World,” and you immediately feel like you have known this song for years. Much like Eternity, the album is a fast burner, and on first listen, there is a great sense of familiarity. They are both albums that are easy to love.

Tom explains, “Recorded in 2021-22, the core demos and many parts were recorded at home on a very basic setup (DIY style) and then taken into the studio to record things like drums and vocals “properly”. It gives a good equilibrium between a more garage band rough and ready approach and the more formality of recording in a studio with a purpose.”

It’s quite an achievement as Tom continues to play with Michael Head’s Red Elastic Band, an act that appears to tour continually and is still basking in the splendour of this Summer’s incredible Loophole album.

Music for Dinosaurs is a five-star album that really deserves to be heard by a wide audience. My only criticism is that it ends too soon.

Music for Dinosaurs Track Listing:

1. Let it go
2. Mind can you hear me
3. Out of this world
4. Mayday
5. The brightest lights
6. When the sun is gone
7. Exile to Eden
8. This new world
9. We are the aliens
10. I’m moving up
11. Pebbles to boulders

Run Time: 34:11
Release Date: December 6, 2024
Record Label: Def.fo music