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daniel thebook
Artist: Dani’el
Title: The Book
Genre: Electropop
Release Date: 22th November 2013
Label: Conzoom Records


Album Review

A lot can be expected of ‘The Book’. It says so in the media release. DANI’EL, you see, is a very clever dude. A musical education starting at the tender age of seven, the Croatian later enrolled at the Academy of Music in Zagreb and studied there for four years. Now he’s a Professor of Music, and seems to have collaborated with, bumped into or taken tea with an endless list of top names in the production, music and generally artistic world. So this album, it’s going to be amazing, right? No.

Like so many albums, it starts off ok. Worried sounding vocals over sparse electronica, finger-clicking beats and a decent enough melody make this an obvious single, and indeed it did gyrate its way into the German Electronic charts last year. There’s an extended remix on offer here too, which is superfluous. ‘Sorry’, also a single, is a shuffly, scuffy kind of creature, trying to be ‘The Understanding’-era RÖYKSOPP but not quite pulling it off. It’s almost instantly forgettable once over. Indeed lots of what’s on offer here is akin to a pleasant enough dip in a luke-warm swimming pool, but one in the middle of nowhere with absolutely no scenery to admire.

Elsewhere there’s bippity-boppity shiny pop (“music”), hi NRG 80’s disco stomps (‘Algabal’) and Casio-keyboard sounding relics from some lost era (‘Passing Thru’), all sung in an over-earnest quivering voice that sounds unsure of itself. At times it’s embarrassingly old-fashioned, although I suspect the sound that was aimed for was ‘shiny retro pop’. It’s not. And when big weepy mullock ‘For A Friend’ lumbers into view, it’s time to go online and book tickets to a Summer festival. Any festival. Just something that reminds you it’s 2014.

A slight toe-step back into relevance comes with final track ‘Mark My Words’ which at least could be played in a club not full of people who last danced to ‘Footloose’. It’s got flesh on its bones and bounce in its balls, and if DANI’EL opted for more of this, he might get somewhere. Sadly, I suspect it’s back to teaching for our musical prodigy. No bad thing.


Tracklist

01. Safe
02. Tell Me Why
03. Music
04. Sorry
05. Only You
06. Exordium
07. Algabal
08. Nothing 2 Regret
09. Passing Thru
10. It’s Time
11. For A Friend
12. Safe (Extended)
13. Mark My Words


Line-up

Dani’el Majcen


Website

http://www.conzoomrecords.com/index.php/en/shop/product/view/1/32


Cover Picture

daniel thebook


Rating

Music: 4
Sound: 4
Total: 4 / 10





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