I first saw Daniel Glover play live in the Autumn of 2015 at the Harvest Festival in Kent. He opened the main stage and closed the acoustic one. His voice is an unexpected one from such a young man and is full of raw emotion.
He says in an interview on his website that, “If you don’t unleash the way you truly feel it will destroy you”, and Dan’s voice is a voice that does just that. It unleashes. It emotes. In fact it comes as no surprise that Daniel covered Johnny Cash classic ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ way back in early 2014 and I am sure, even without meeting Dan, that Cash is probably someone that influences this young man. Whatever you think of Cash it is impossible to not feel the emotion in every word he sings, especially in later life.
I have had the chance to listen to Daniel’s EP ‘What Happened Last Week’ and I am keen to share my thoughts with you. This five song offering is built around one of Daniel’s staple tracks, ‘Heavy Mind’, and it is nice to hear how the song has developed from early live videos to this EP version.
The EP starts with ‘I See You Staring Over’ which has un upbeat backbeat and a great guitar hook that will have you humming along. Daniel’s raspy drawl has shades of Paolo Nutini and Jack Savoretti and it makes a good start to the proceedings. On a humorous note, I think this might be the first time Vauxhall Corsa has made a lyrical entry to a song!
Second track, ‘Borrowed Love’, has a moving video online but I’m glad I heard the song first on this EP as it evoked something completely different for me and so the video feels wrong. The video has a military feel but for me, this song transports us to the Old West and the drums, melancholy Morricone-esque trumpet and guitar style all feel as this song would feel happy in a Tarantino soundtrack. I recently had the pleasure of seeing Ryan Bingham live, and Daniel’s style here has definite shades of that master storyteller.
Third track ‘Heavy Mind’ will be familiar to fans of Daniel as it also formed the core of the Heavy Mind Sessions, worth checking out online. Apparently this is a song about unleashing pent up emotion and the acoustic start building into a layered nuanced performance feels exactly as it should, as the song unfolds with a perfect mix of soulful vocals over a building background of guitar and drum.
My favourite track is the fourth, ‘Leaving Vegas’. Another track with a definite feel of country music about it. I love the whistle in the opening bars and it tells a heartbreaking story that is backed beautifully with a distant female vocal. The song shows the fantastic diversity of Daniel’s music writing and once again reminds me of Ryan Bingham with its reflective wisdom and storytelling.
The final track draws the EP to a close with a track that builds into a crescendo of fast playing drums, layered guitar and fiddle and the closing vocal of ‘I am Free, yeah!’. This song seems to draw the strands of the previous four together with its anthemic quailty and I feel the final statement of I am free is almost Daniel stating that with this multi layered EP he has broken free of genre.
This is an excellent EP which I can highly recommend, but don’t just play it in the background. Listen and go on the journey with Daniel. I don’t know what happened last week but with music like this I have a confident feel about what might happen in the future. I will look forward to seeing Dan play again and soon.
Find Daniel Glover online on his website, Facebook and Twitter. ‘What Happened Last Week’ is available on iTunes.
