Daniel Rachel: Poised On The Brink Of Greatness
As debut albums go, this initial offering from Daniel Rachel is a platter of two halves. What’s good about A Simple Twist of Folk is extraordinary, and what’s not so good, still shows signs that there’s a lot more to come from the ex-front man of Rachels Basement.
It’s on track five ‘Mamma Cha Cha (Doo Doo Wah)’ that the album really kicks off. A double check of the credits reveals Daniel Rachel is indeed the author of one of the catchiest tunes of the millennium; ‘I don’t believe I’ve missed that train/I don’t believe in second place.’ Keep up this form Daniel and you’ll easily be first passed the post.
‘Saturday Morning Sunday Night’ is next up. A lovely throbbing bass line underlays a heartfelt vocal and the excellent couplet; ‘But nobody calls when the president falls/And we’re all stoned on moonshine.’
A surprising change of pace come son the seemingly Paul Weller inspired ‘Free My Mind’ (circa ‘But I’m Different Now’, ‘Mermaids’). The guitar’s loud, raw and out there - while the lyrics, though at times a little ‘loose’; ‘Need to go somewhere sacred soft/Where you can bathe the goose…’, do hit the mark with the excellent verse; ‘Walked through the cities atmospheres/Just needin’ a bottle of wine/Every museum has a stale tale/And together we are sober and cold.’
Daniel aims to be ‘….a songwriter not a pop star.’ Though, the sleeve notes go on to point out ‘In truth, he could be both.’ And indeed A Simple Twist of Folk has its roots in something much bigger than another jobbing singer/songwriter paying his dues.
The boy’s got potential. ‘Go see him live’ as the blurb demands.
MIKE
COBLEY
SEELIFE
