I wouldn’t call myself a fan of Daniel himself but I really liked his last album and his general idiocy doesn’t stop him being a great songwriter. Here is my short guide of what to expect from his new CD:
Growing Up
A tougher urban/latino number to open with that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on GGTT. 6.5/10
Complicated
Reggae-influenced with lots of high bits. Best track for dancing to. 8/10
Wrap My Words Around You
A pretty, mid-tempo love song, with a chorus that goes a bit rocky making it more interesting. 9/10
All Your Attention
Quite typical r’n’b-sounding with some nice lalalas. Could imagine this being on a new BSBs album. 7/10
The Way
Rumoured next single (bad idea!) and this album’s answer to I Can’t Read You ie. a little rocky with plenty of long notes. 7.5/10
Sorry
Written to Natasha apologising for being a twat to her. Nice in places but a bit messy and gets suddenly louder about 2 mins in. 6/10
Show Me The Real You
One of the catchiest and most fun tracks, a mixture of pop, rock and latin in sound. Gets better when it kicks in at about 1.30. 8.5/10
Don’t Give’r It All
Firstly, why not Give Her? That annoys me. Most upbeat, rocky and aggressive track so far but verses and middle 8 are quite poppy. 7.5/10
Nothing Hurts Like Love
You know this one. 8/10
Holiness
Mid-tempo and nice-sounding with a bit of a “let’s do it!” vibe. 8/10
All The Little Children
Strangely short, very slow and generally quite pointless. 4/10
Draw You (Demo)
Why are 2 of the best tracks the bonus tracks? This is a lovely, gentle acoustic number. 9/10
A Kiss Without Commitment (Demo)
Not only is this the loveliest and best song on the album but it also has my name in it twice! How could it no be my favourite? 10/10
I’m Not Dead (Hidden Track)
Manic and silly, Daniel goes heavy shouty rock yelling “I am alive! I’m not dead!” Clearly not his best lyrical moment but you can’t say it’s not fun. 7/10
Average: 7.5/10
Overall it’s a pretty good album. Definitely more focused in sound and musical direction than GGTT, although that does mean less of the wide variation that made his debut so good. There are a few gorgeous ballads and some very catchy faster moments, and the album as a whole fits together very nicely. I have no idea where he can go next single-wise because there are few tracks that stand out above the rest – nothing shouts “Release me now!” but I still say the album is very much worth having, because I do think it will be a grower and I’m definitely glad I bought it.