Raven & the Dove are Cindy Lee & David Swift.
Their eclectic and emotion-based songwriting weaves vocal and guitar harmonies with tales from deep within their life experience.
Their latest single (June, 2024) ‘Love Looks’ is a Shakespearean dream-pop bossa nova originally written for their East Gippsland Winter Festival show ‘Cave Songs’—performed inside the Buchan Caves named after A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The duo have bought their song to life in this recording conjuring spirited visions of the magic and mayhem of love and nature.
“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind; And therefore is wing’d Cupid painted blind.” ~ Shakespeare
Their previous single for 2024 - ‘Power Poles - is an aural adventure of a couple separated by their life on the road; from the big top end to the gulf below.
“sunrise, red as my eyes,” Lee’s sweltering vocals let out, as a spoken-word intermittence furthers a narrative with an endless-feeling road ahead. The guitar work in this second half dazzles with grippingly melodic fervency as soulful vocal layers converge. “Go back,” the vocals repeat, concluding with a bluesy satisfaction. “Power Poles” is a strong showing from Raven & the Dove.”
~ Mike Mineo: OBSCURE SOUND
The couple can be found around the kitchen table of their rural home in East Gippsland / Gunaikurnai, strumming acoustics to find riffs and melodies that develop into fully realised electric and panoramic expressions. Indie Australian rock ‘n’ roots with hints of Americana influences, blues, soul and a peppering of pop hooks create a textured sound that evokes a physical, emotional and sonic landscape for listeners to enter into.
Add their carefully crafted yet playful lyrics of original stories and the journey of Raven & the Dove’s dark & light takes flight.
Think Nancy & Lee meets Nick Cave.
Playing as a duo that expands into a full band for larger shows and album recordings, in 2021 Dave & Cindy released their debut album, ‘The Valley’, with Mike Park on bass and Dominic Britten on drums. The album enjoyed airplay across Australia and reviews included:
“There’s a lot of really important tales in there”
“Aussie storytelling at its finest”
“Not a bad song on it (The Valley)”
‘The Valley’ developed into the duo’s live audio-visual show performed at two East Gippsland Winter Festivals and in the country’s beloved small halls. Other memorable live events include Bruthen Blues Festival, Songs from the East and support act for John Flanagan at Live at the Bundy.
“We love these kind of shows. Genuine music lovers turn out to experience the storytelling and enthusiasm of artists performing their own creations. Some of the stories were so relatable that there were murmurings in the audience of genuine linkage.”
Click on image to watch vid (YouTube)Raven & the Dove’s latest live project was ‘Cave Songs’: 8 shows performed inside the Blackwood Chamber of Buchan’s Fairy Cave with Dave & Cindy’s original music written specifically for the show along with immersive visual projections, soundscapes and spoken word.
“(CAVE SONGS was) the most magical thing I’ve ever done, ever seen, in terms of musical experiences.”
Click on image to watch vid (YouTube)Originally from Melbourne both Dave and Cindy are no strangers to performing. Dave’s decades of singing and lead guitar work in many Melbourne bands has helped craft some of those bluesy licks and tough rock hooks you’ll hear on a Raven & the Dove album. Cindy’s own performance beginnings have developed into multimedia projects, exhibitions and events touring to festivals such as Glastonbury, raves in Budapest and St Petersburg, clubs such as Fabric, London and art residencies in Europe and Los Angeles. More at cindylee.org
Raven & the Dove Highlights
Wrote and performed 8 shows inside the Buchan Caves for the ‘23 & ‘24 East Gippsland Winter Festival. Original songs, spoken word and storytelling, composed soundscapes and created video projections.
New singles released for 2024 - Power Poles: Feb 16 / Love Looks June 25
Support Act for John Flanagan at Live at the Bundy
Recipients of a Regional Arts Victoria Bushfire Recovery grant recognising their songwriting and storytelling inspired by local and oral histories. The grant supported the writing of debut album, ‘The Valley’.
As part of the grant Raven & the Dove developed ‘Songs From the Valley’ as an audio-visual show with their original music and storytelling, performing in the country’s small halls and two East Gippsland Winter Festivals.
‘The Valley’ tracks have enjoyed radio play across the country, from Jacinta Parsons on ABC Melbourne to Mim Hook on ABC Gippsland, Tripe R, 3CR, 3PBS and more.
Performed in festivals such as the Bruthen Blues Festival, every East Gippsland Winter Festival, Songs From the East.