New York musician Max ZT rocks the most badass tagline ever. Are you ready for it? He is… ‘the Hendrix of the hammered dulcimer’. Says who? Says the hifalutin elites over at NPR, that’s who. 

Anyway, a couple years back he met Dan Whitehouse, a celebrated singer songwriter from the West Midlands. They started making tunes together. Max played hammered dulcimer – if you don’t know, that’s sort of like a horizontal harp, which you strike with hammers – plus a bit of synth and percussion. Dan took on vocal duties, mostly spoken-word, and guitar.

The result? ‘Ten Steps’, a damn fine album. Out on vinyl/downloads, via Want To Know Records.

Based on the lineup and my blurb above, you might expect the record to sound a tiny bit ambient. A wee bit ‘woo’. And, yeah, it does. But inside its sprawling, nebulous realm nestle deep, rich sonic universes.

Title track ‘Ten Steps’ sets the tone handsomely. Max’s hammered dulcimer sounds bright and optimistic, pacy and percussive. He is playing, I’m reliably informed, an “ Armenian rhythm called the Jurjuna, in 10/8 time”. The call and response between Dan’s sonorous spoken word and his heavenly backing chorus is just lovely.

Next track, ‘Bury One’s Head’, is an epic vibe shift. Under a dark narrative about the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Max’s dulcimer takes on an urgent, anxious quality. Faintly Arabic. Like the soundtrack to a really juicy thriller.

Max is strikingly versatile. For what it’s worth, I don’t think ‘Hendrix of the hammered dulcimer’ does him justice. Hendrix stands for flashy fireworks. Max certainly has chops – ‘How To Strike’ is wildly virtuosic. But there’s more to making music than that. Max, in his sophisticated New York manner, exemplifies the old musician’s maxim that –  when all is said and done – repetition legitimises. There are no drums. Yet still it grooves.

Dan is by no means upstaged. Oh no. His lyrics, shorn of fussy melody, are even more vivid and compelling. He has a lovely, lucid turn of phrase. A poets’ ear for telling detail. Like on ‘Shizuka’, when he evokes a particular trendy paint colour, or the timbre of nylon guitar strings. I especially love how he lingers luxuriantly over the lines about (of all things) a dignified older man practising his golf swing on ‘How To Strike’.

As Max sketches graceful moonlight-sonata arpeggios on ‘Hammerhead’, Dan vulnerably talks about the sweet pain of parenthood. A tasteful breeze of synth underscores the odd couplet here and there, bringing the imagery home with a robust emotional gut punch. ‘A Perfect Circle’ has our Dan singing – a sublime palate cleanser, modestly seasoned with adroit percussion from Max. 

In short, ‘Ten Steps’ is an inspired collaboration – two artists at the peak of their game making intimate, sensitive, challenging art. Really strikes a chord.

TEN STEPS IS OUT NOW on Want To Know Records - Buy/Download HERE 

Review by Andy Hill

UK tour October 2023 - all tickets dan-whitehouse.com/live 

Wed 18th October - Arc Theatre, Winchester

Thur 19th October - Music At The Unicorn, Abingdon

Fri 20th October - English Folk Expo (private)

Sun 22nd October - Stables 2, Milton Keynes

Tue 24th October - The Pheasantry, Pizza Express, London

Wed 25th October - Ropetackle Arts, Shoreham

Thur 26th October - The Old Stables, Cricklade

Fri 27th October - Royal Birmingham Conservatoire

Sat 28th October - The Stoller Hall, Manchester 

Mon 30th October - Real World Studios (private)