The Last Dinosaur - The Nothing

Not seen since 2010, The Last Dinosaur is the musical project of Jamie Cameron. While Hooray! For Happiness was his way of casting of some particular familial and love interest demons, The Nothing draws on something he’s seemingly wrestled with for even longer: the death of his best friend in car crash.

Every song on this album is its own internal hymn, quiet and mostly sparse, but with great weight lingering in the background. Things begin simply, with close strums on ‘Atoms’ and the breathy vocals dictating “When I die burn my body, set the light to set me free”. Unsurprisingly, death - what’s here now and what’s here after we’re gone - is the focal point. On ‘Grow’ Cameron shares the vocals with a female counterpoint, describing the nature growth and death in the most biologically simple terms.

Tracks like ‘The National Stage’ and ‘On Water’ feel like ethereal representations of life being scattered to the wind. They contain the same beauty you’d find in a Studio Ghibli soundtrack, for those thoughtful moments spent musing on the nature of things as well as nature itself.

‘We’ll Greet Death’ features banjo picking and broad horns, striking a similar tone to a lesser-known band Hudson and their album Eastward. Similarly conceptual, this album journeys in a different way, with a mellow and down-beat look at our route to death.

There are some uplifting moments however, ‘All My Faith’ containing messages of love over a choral choir and persistent guitar and piano. You couldn’t spin this album endlessly though, so bleak is it as a whole. What might be strikingly beautiful while you’re in one mood, is slow and bloated in another.

You don’t need to have lost anyone to appreciate this album, but it helps. Patience and attention is awarded with swimmingly hypnotic folk and dream-pop, all fed through a best friend’s obituary.