Play Dusty for Me

Play Dusty for Me is the second solo album by English singer and songwriter David Westlake.

Play Dusty for Me
Studio album by David Westlake
Released	11 June 2002 (2002-06-11)
Recorded	August 2001, Kilkenny, Ireland
Genre	Indie rock
Length	54:50
Language	English
Label	Mahlerphone
Producer	Cormac Moore
David Westlake chronology
Westlake (1987) Play Dusty for Me (2002) My Beautiful England (2022)

Recording

Play Dusty for Me was recorded in August 2001 in Kilkenny, Ireland. The album was produced by Cormac Moore.

This was Westlake’s first recording since The Servants’ second album, Small Time. Small Time was recorded in 1991 but was still unreleased in 2001. Cherry Red Records released it in 2012, following the inclusion of 1990’s Disinterest in Mojo’s 2011 list of the greatest British indie records of all time.^[1]). Throughout this time – “quietly in the background, occasionally in public” – Westlake carried on writing and performing.^[2]

Release history

Play Dusty for Me (Mahlerphone, 2002) was a self-pressed album released in a limited issue that quickly sold out.^[3] Play Dusty for Me was reissued in 2010 and 2015.^[4][5]

In 2008, Westlake gave “My Ice Queen”, an outtake from the album recording session, to a charity compilation for the benefit of Yorkhill Children’s Foundation, based at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Glasgow.^[6]

Reception

The Big Takeover called Play Dusty for Me a “winsome, quiet” album, saying it had the “general unhurried nature of an LP put out for pure love rather than commercial gain”.^[3] A Louder Than War review contrasted the “fierce and unexpected urgency” of Westlake’s My Beautiful England with the “dimly-lit beauty” of Play Dusty for Me.^[7]

Track listing

1. “Play Dusty for Me” – 3:30
2. “Song for John” – 2:02
3. “Back on Track” – 4:28
4. “An Ocean Away” – 3:50
5. “Say When” – 2:51
6. “Stupid Love” – 3:33
7. “The Lonely City” – 2:34
8. “I Can’t Give You the Life You Want” – 3:38
9. “Nowhere Days” – 3:03
10. “I Die for Love” – 3:40
11. “Patience” – 4:40
12. “Even If” – 4:22
13. “Life on the Edge” – 3:44
14. “Hi You” – 3:55
15. “Life Goes On” – 4:20

Personnel

• David Westlake – vocals and guitar
• Dan Cross – guitar
• Cormac Moore – bass
• Willis Moore – drums

Technical personnel

• Cormac Moore – production
• Del Sozou – artwork, design

References

1. Prior, Clive (December 2011). "Greatest British Indie Records of All Time". Mojo Special Edition. Bauer. p. 123.
2. Tassell, Nige (2022). Whatever Happened to the C86 Kids? An Indie Odyssey. London: Nine Eight Books. p. 284. ISBN 978-1788705585.
3. Rabid, Jack (17 January 2011). "David Westlake – Play Dusty For Me". The Big Takeover. New York. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
4. "David Westlake – Play Dusty for Me". Discogs.com. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
5. "David Westlake – Play Dusty for Me". Discogs.com. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
6. "Various – Doing It For The Kids 08: A Compilation For Yorkhill Childrens Foundation". Discogs.com. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
7. Davenport, Neil (19 October 2022). "David Westlake 'My Beautiful England' : album review". Louder Than War. Retrieved 8 May 2023.