Dani Siciliano's third album is self-titled for a reason; it represents a personal
statement crafted by Siciliano's own hand, feeding off her accomplished past in
experimental pop and electronica for a celebration of musical liberation. The
culmination of eight years of songwriting, production research, and sonic exploration,
Dani Siciliano follows Likes... (2004) and Slappers (2006) and finds Siciliano focused
on crafting as much of the album by herself as possible, working with just a few select
musicians to round out her creative vision. As ever, her captivating voice remains at
center-stage, and the listener can hear echoes of her earlier work with the likes of
Matthew Herbert, The Soft Pink Truth, and Brooks tucked away among the
folds of diverse instrumentation, but this is an album that sounds very much like its own
beast. It's an album of love and unabashed soul that reaches enthusiastically toward all
the sounds that hold the greatest appeal for Siciliano. The production intuitively frames
the narrative of her lyrics, neatly demonstrating the unfettered vision that she has been
able to realize with this project. It's the balance of the unusual and the immediate that
make this such perfect pop music, sitting neatly among the brooding musicianship of
N?ze's 2015 Come With Us album (CC 017CD/CCS 095LP) (on which Siciliano
features), Nicolas Jaar, and the ever-blurring lines between the avant-garde history of
Circus Company and its broad contemporary outlook. If there is a track that captures
the album's multi-faceted sound palette it is surely ''Blink,'' which fuses illustrious blasts
of brass with fluttering electronics and a purposeful drum beat as a perfect statement of
intent. Some compositions evince a grounded, earthy quality, as on the sultry guitarlaced
funk of ''So Amazing'' or the arpeggiated, folk-inspired reflection of ''Together.''
Elsewhere, the production positively leaps with its playful deployment of electronic
elements, from the effervescent swing and strings combo on ''I'm The Question'' to the
snaking synth flourishes and bass swells of ''Take Two.'' The razor-sharp arrangement of
''Why,'' with its sparse piano ostinato and layered vocal lines, teases out an infectious,
original result.
TRACKLISTING
01./A1. Why
02./A2. Take Two
03./A3. Blink
04./A4. So Amazing
05./A5. I'm The Question
06./B1. Come On
07./B2. Dragons
08./B3. Together
09./B4. Chasing The Sun
10./B5. Gone Are Those Days
11./B6. Sincerely