Dylan John Thomas shares, ‘Nothing Here Worth Taking’, the huge title track from his sophomore album - released last Friday via Believe Music.
‘Nothing Here Worth Taking’ is Dylan at full force. Acoustic guitar, thrilling blasts of brass that call back to his love of ska as a kid, and a soaring vocal build into a properly massive track that feels stadium-ready yet still has plenty of weight underneath. The track is a song of encouragement and support for a mate whose relationship was breaking down.
It also provides a fitting introduction to the wider sound of Nothing Here Worth Taking. So far Dylan has revealed several distinct sides of the record, beginning with ‘Got You On My Mind’, a sunlit, banjo-led anthem inspired by Dylan’s discovery of the instrument during a trip around Scotland. The track marked a new direction in his songwriting, bringing banjo and brass together with the melodic, roots-driven sound that has become central to the new record.
That was followed by ‘Heaven Knows You’re Lonely’, which stripped things back to place his unmistakable vocal and acoustic guitar front and centre. Most recently, ‘Come and Get It’ introduced 90s dance influences into Dylan’s guitar-led songwriting. Built around a driving rhythm and intricate fingerpicked guitar, the track began with a piano idea Dylan wrote one night. Lyrically, ‘Come and Get It’ explores the contradictions of young adulthood, as Dylan navigates questions around identity, faith and relationships.
Together, the singles have offered a glimpse into the breadth of the new album, with Dylan describing ‘Nothing Here Worth Taking’ and ‘Got You On My Mind’ as representative of its overall palette, “It’s an amalgamation of all different kind of influences pulled together to create the sound. Which seems to kick off live all around the country.”
Nothing Here Worth Taking follows Dylan’s 2024 self-titled debut and finds him pushing his songwriting further, bringing together brass, blues, banjo, piano, folk, country and some 90s dance influences across ten tracks. Written entirely by Thomas, who performs the majority of the instrumentation, the album was recorded at Magic Box Studios with Scotty Anderson.
With over 40 million streams and 60,000 tickets sold, Dylan has built a huge following from the ground up. Six sold-out nights at Glasgow’s Barrowland Ballroom culminated in a 14,500-capacity homecoming show at OVO Hydro, while festival appearances at TRNSMT, Kendal Calling, Victorious, and Leeds Festival have seen his audience expand incredibly. Along the way, he has shared stages with Sam Fender and Liam Gallagher, while fellow Glaswegian Gerry Cinnamon has also played an important mentor role in his journey.
Following the album launch show last week at Glasgow’s Barrowland Ballroom, Dylan will embark on his biggest UK & Ireland headline tour to date across November and December, including London’s Islington Assembly Hall and a major homecoming show at Glasgow’s OVO Hydro Arena on December 11, before concluding the tour at Aberdeen’s P&J Live.
