Adrian Dunbar Sings the Beatles
Adrian Dunbar, beloved for playing steely-eyed detectives in Ridley and Line of Duty, has finally unleashed the project nobody asked for: a Beatles cover album. It’s called Adrian Dunbar Sings the Beatles, though “sings” deserves quotation marks huge enough to cover the Abbey Road crosswalk.
Dunbar’s speaking voice has gravitas. It can interrogate a suspect into confession with a raised note; but when asked to handle melody, it collapses like a folding chair at a drunken wedding. His rendition of Yesterday sounds less like a mournful ballad and more like a man apologizing for stepping on your foot. Let It Be ought to be called Let It Stop. You can almost hear the microphone trying to file for witness protection.
The arrangements here are inexplicably lush, as if a full orchestra has been hired to conceal the fact that Dunbar has the range of a cordless drill. Strings swell, horns blare, but over the top floats Adrian’s voice like a gray paper towel on a muddy puddle.
The “standout” tracks include: “Hey Jude” – Dunbar treats the “na-na-na” coda like it’s a hostage situation. By the second minute, you’re rooting for the hostage-takers; “Twist and Shout” – Imagine your uncle at a wedding after two shandies, except the uncle is a police superintendent and the band can’t legally stop him;
“A Day in the Life” – The famous crescendo is replaced by Dunbar sighing heavily, as if he’s reading a dreadfully long witness statement.
Some critics have been kind, calling the album “earnest” and “unpretentious.” Others have been accurate, comparing it to “karaoke night at an off-brand nursing home.” A bootleg copy has reportedly been adopted by the UN as a non-lethal form of crowd dispersal.
In conclusion, there is no denying that Adrian Dunbar can act. He can interrogate. He can glower like nobody’s business. But can he sing the Beatles? No, he cannot. This album proves two things: (1) Lennon and McCartney’s songwriting is not bulletproof, and (2) Adrian Dunbar should be tried at The Hague for crimes against harmony.
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