Withered Hand is the stage name adopted by Dan Willson, an English-born but Scottish-based musician who made a bit of a comeback this year after quite a lengthy spell out of the limelight.
He was a relative latecomer to music, seemingly not picking up a guitar until the late-90s, by which time he was in his 30s. Around the turn of the century and beyon, he became part of a number of bands based in the Edinburgh-area, none of which made any sort of commercial breakthrough. He was then involved in the Fife-based Fence Collective scene, quickly making a name for himself as a talented singer-songwriter in the folk/indie style that was becoming increasingly popular in Scotland at the time.
In 2009, he released what proved to be a very-well received debut album Good News, on Edinburgh-based SL Records, all the while attracting very positive press for his live shows. The next few years would see a number of EPs and singles and a move to Fortuna Pop!/Slumberland Records for whom he recorded New Gods, his second album, in 2014.
New Gods is a hugely enjoyable record from start to finish, and for a time it looked as if Dan would be the next singer/songwriter to emerge out of Scotland to a wider, international audience.
But it has taken nine years to write and record a follow-up, with How To Love making its appearance back on 28 April, and the momentum has been lost. In the media rounds accompanying the new release, Dan hasn’t shirked away from explaining what happened, revealing that he has been having severe struggles with his mental health much of his life, trying to deal and cope with anxiety, depression and addiction. He found himself totally unable to write anything in the wake of the acclaim heaped on New Gods.
I’m really pleased that Dan is on the comeback trail, and I did make a purchase of the new album a few months back. But it’s proving to be a difficult listen – it’s not that I think it’s a poor or disappointing record, but it had so much to live up to with the previous two albums and I can’t help but think it comes up a bit short. I’ll persist with it in the weeks and months ahead. It could well prove to be a grower.
In the meantime, here’s one of the songs from New Gods.
mp3: Withered Hand – Black Tambourine
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
Agree with that analysis – the first two albums are both so good that following them was a nearly impossible task. Album 3 is still very good though.