Daniel Hall – Anomaly (CD Album – Daniel Hall)
Genre/Influences: Synth-pop.
Background/Info: Australian synth-pop artist Daniel Hall seems to never stop writing new songs. A few months after his previous opus (cf. “Elevate”) he’s already back with twelve fresh songs, “Anomaly” being the man’s twelfth full length. And just like previous releases he also made a clip of each song; the clips being featured on an extra DVD. Daniel Hall is taking care of every little detail and even the landscape painting inside the album.
Content: If you’re familiar with the sound of Daniel Hall “Anomaly” doesn’t have many surprises to offer. It’s a well-crafted and sweet-sugar like electro-pop work. The songs are mainly dreamy, but feature a few sensual passages. Daniel Hall is also used to bring a few harder cuts. I especially want to mention “I Hunger For You” as most noticeable track in this format. The vocals are quite ‘classical’ as well, revealing Daniel’s sweet and somewhat sensual way of singing. The last song is an acoustic version of “The Main Attraction” featuring guest vocals by ‘Zeus’.
+ + + : Daniel Hall’s releases always reveal a high degree of professionalism. This aspect that comes through in every little detail from the production; from the songwriting to the recording to the artwork to the clips. But the main reason why we want to buys a CD is for its content! Daniel Hall moves on writing delicate electro-pop songs with a typical dreamy touch on top. I again prefer the ‘harder’ cuts (cf. “I Hunger For You”), but I also enjoyed the sexy-like “Sleeping In Snow” and “Unleash The Dragon” for its great bass line.
The clips are pretty recognizable as well and reveal a mix of cool effects and sensual models. I especially recommend the clips of “Sleeping In Snow” and “I Hunger For You”.
– – – : The main challenge with a prolific artist is to hold the attention of his audience. And especially when the sound formula remains pretty similar. Daniel Hall doesn’t really experiment with new ideas and simply moves on writing the music he likes: sensual, sweet and dreamy synth-pop music. The point is that it all starts to become a bit predictable.
Conclusion: The previous album “Elevate” was my personal favorite one while “Anomaly” sounds like an artist who switched on the autopilot. This is my way tickling the artist to experiment with new ideas!
Best songs: “I Hunger For You”, “Whatever, Wherever”, “Sleeping In Snow”, “Unleash The Dragon”.
Rate: (7).
Artist: www.facebook.com/danielhallmusic
About Daniel Hall
Daniel Hall is a Sydney, Australia-based electropop artist who also records as Emerge1. “Anomaly” is his twelfth full-length album, following “Elevate”.
Hall followed “Anomaly” with the 14th full-length “Dark Horse”, preceded by the single “Wonderful (The Anix Edit)” on Side-Line’s own “Face the Beat 6” compilation. He also launched the collaborative project Emerge with British vocalist Charlotte Henry, releasing the album “The Trip”. His “Human” album led into the remix set “Human:Resurrection (The Remixes)” in 2022, billed as his 16th full-length overall and featuring remixers Blaklight, The Brute and People Theatre among others.
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I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.
