Dan Black – ((Un))

It seems like only five minutes ago that every week saw the release of some shoddy indie rock album that was destined for the bargain bin and then to later clod the shelves of charity shops. Now that we’ve had the successes (both critically and commercially) of a handful of electronic/pop singers it seems the labels have changed tactics. Therefore we have Dan Black.

With an album titled ’((un))’, we really shouldn’t have expected much from it and the album delivers pretty much as expected. In all the debut record from this singer is a forgettable album of pop filler. The lesser tracks fade so much into the background that it’s easy to forget that there’s even any music on and what good ideas are on the record are either not his own or seem like they are not. Take single (and opening track) ‘Symphonies’ for instance: the drum beat is lifted straight from Rihanna and more than anything we sit hoping that the song will turn into ‘Umbrella’ at the chorus.

Elsewhere on the album we get ‘Ecstasy’ which includes autotune rap of the kind that Iglu & Hartly fans might enjoy, and ‘Alone’ which brings in the funk bass - terrifying on paper and worse on record. Then there’s ‘Yours’, which sounds like a boyband and features a dull chorus of “don’t wanna be yours no more” that’s repeated until its words lose all meaning. The lowest of low points on the album comes from ‘Pump My Pumps’ (why would you call a song that?) which is just terrible.

The second half of the record gets slightly better, at least it seems to in light of the first: ‘Cigarette Packs’ is a radio friendly pop ballad that would be OK if it didn’t go on for quite as long as it does, and the synths that open ‘Life Slash Dreams’ are quite nice, conjuring up images of a late summer evening. It also means that we don’t regret listening to this album quite so much. This song is a definite highlight with the almost blissful chorus of “life is life, dreams are dreams and I’m floating somewhere in-between.”

Let’s hope that, even in light of it’s infrequent good points, that Dan Black’s album is not the first assault in wave after wave of landfill pop, yet there’s every chance that it is. In this case look elsewhere for mainstream pleasures for at best this is forgettable and at worst grating. Unless you’re the type of person who wears those neon plastic shades, you best stay clear of ’((un))’.