Delightful, quirky and uplifting, the brilliant John Dhali explodes onto the scene with latest track ‘In Time’. An anthemic and joyful offering, ‘In Time’ draws on Dhali’s own experiences of spirituality and self-exploration, particularly his time spent in India. As he explains “The song is really about not waiting around, which is funny cos I wrote it four years ago in India. I guess it was like a prophecy. It’s taken me this long to work out how to be me. It’s kinda like a declaration to myself that I’m not gonna dress up in any bullshit. We’re all here in time, and we don’t have long so I can’t waste mine being buried under some crumbling facade when what’s underneath is beautiful. I genuinely believe that the Self in everyone is divine, so I refuse to disguise or crush mine like I have in the past. Take it or leave it, here’s mine now show me yours kinda thing”
With a sound not dissimilar to that of soul-folk singer/songwriters Nick Mulvey, George Ezra and fellow northerners Elbow, Dhali makes clever use of more lighthearted instrumentation. For instance the playful tinkering of xylophone and tambourine juxtaposed against a driving fuzz bass and soaring strings. This creates a general atmosphere of balance and a grittiness that is certainly unique.
Furthermore, the music video that accompanies ‘In Time’ does even more to propel this sense of positivity with Dhali himself filmed breaking out of the grey, drab attire of the typical London commuter and hotfooting his way through the London tube network adorned in rainbow paint splatters.
With a expanding reputation including support slots for Frank Turner, Scott Matthews and Lucy Spraggan and Radio 1 and 2 airplay, it is clear that Dhali is making deliberate tracks towards wider recognition and indeed, spreading his verve and enthusiasm to an ever growing audience.
