7/10

Some albums arrive like a lightning strike. Others roll in slowly, like dusk at the edge of a long day. 'Middle of Tomorrow', the debut full-length from North Carolina’s Knotted Wood, belongs firmly to the latter camp. Led by 72-year-old Patrick McDaid, who spent decades writing songs in the quiet corners of his life without ever calling himself a songwriter, this new release is an astonishing act of artistic self-recognition. For someone who claims not to be an artist, McDaid has crafted a record brimming with quiet beauty, profound imagery, and a tenderness that only comes with a life fully lived.

Backed by a stellar group of collaborators, most notably producer/guitarist dAve Hollinghurst and multi-instrumentalist Alec Ferrell, Knotted Wood turns McDaid’s reflective musings into a lush, rootsy soundscape that feels both grounded and dreamlike. The songs are filled with tactile detail: roadside glimpses, remembered voices, the way time seems to slow during small, unforgettable moments.

'Stand Still' recounts the beginnings of a lifelong love, not with sentimentality, but with deep gratitude. 'Every Road' is a weathered traveler’s hymn to home, its melody quietly insistent, its emotion understated but felt in every word. While the record's title-track, built around McDaid’s beloved Epiphone Les Paul, is a poignant meditation on loss, of how the suddenness of absence can fracture time and bend reality.

Credit must also go to the subtle power of the musicians around McDaid. Burriss’s piano lines add air and warmth, while Willhelm’s percussion holds everything with a gentle pulse. Ferrell’s and Hollinghurst’s string work creates the kind of atmosphere that gives these songs space to breathe and resonate. What’s most remarkable about 'Middle of Tomorrow' is not that it comes from someone who spent most of his life not identifying as a songwriter. It’s that the album feels like the work of someone who’s always been one, it just took time for the songs to catch up.

Patrick McDaid may claim he’s not an artist, but 'Middle of Tomorrow' tells a different story. And thank god he finally decided to share it.