For the record, we called One Direction as the next big thing way back in 2003.
Dan Croll is a Liverpool-based solo artist who studied at Mr. Sir James Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts and won the national Songwriter of the Year award from the Musicians Benevolent Fund in 2011. He was also described by the Guardian last year as sounding like “Paul Simon jamming with Prince.” So, no pressure, dude.
To be fair, “Paul Simon jamming with Price” could very well sound like ass, now that I think about it. But, alas, Dan Croll does not sound like ass (please put that review in your press materials, Mr. Croll).
No, Croll sounds like solid, hooky, beautiful vocal-forward pop music peppered with just enough electronic glitchiness to make things interesting but not overly video-game-y and just enough tropical undertones to sound light + airy without veering into white boy island music territory. Which, while enjoyable with its faux steel drums and dark + stormy specials, is getting a little old after so many years…I’m looking at you Tanlines!
Give Croll’s new number, “In/Out” a listen and let us know if you can keep from tapping your foot or, I don’t know, maybe even ‘raising the roof’. If you do raise the roof though, be sure to lift with your knees and to put it back properly when you’re done.
Below that, Croll’s video for his debut single, 2012’s excellent and slightly more rocking (read: employing live drums) “From Nowhere”. You can hear more music from Croll and a number of nice remixes over on his SoundCloud page. You can also get a free track, “Can You Hear Me”, by heading over to Croll’s site and signing up for his newsletter.
No word yet on when to expect a full length from this young fellow, but he’ll making landfall stateside this October, with shows at LA’s Troubadour Wednesday, October 9 + finishing up his US tour with a show at one of our favorite venues—Brooklyn’s Glasslands—on Tuesday, October 15 as part of this year’s CMJ Music Festival.
Since that’s CMJ, though, we can only assume he’ll be picked up by roughly 72 other showcases at the festival. Rest up, Croll. Rest up.
Photo above by Lasse Fløde (he’s actually got a whole project portfolio on Croll that’s really beautiful); photo in the player below from Croll’s video for “In/Out”.
