Little Daniel has just released his self-titled debut. Spanning 11 tracks, Daniel Ilievski takes the lead playing a large percentage of the instruments himself, a clear credit to his musicianship. The opening track ‘Racing’ is a punchy track that kicks off the album, while ‘Great Dane On A Train’ and ‘Failure’ continue this upbeat, blues rock vibe.
Slowing things down, ‘Away’ focuses more on acoustics, coupled with gentle vocals which is a nice change of pace for the album. Featuring a cover version of ‘Dancing in the Moonlight’, the album then takes a surprising turn for this track. With high blues influences, and a catchy beat, Little Daniel takes this the album up a notch with the groovy cover.
Closing track ‘Footscray’ takes another turn, with deep vocals, harmonies and a sounds reminiscent of the ’50s era, the album clearly has a lot of influences throughout.
While the album has an edgy bluesy rock feel throughout, it is perhaps a little too safe with a far too consistent sound throughout the album. As a young singer, musician and producer from Melbourne, Little Daniel has a great sense of tune and the ability to create pleasant chord structure, and with time to mature he will have a promising future in the music industry.
2.5/5
Independent
Reviewed by Lenny Cartel