Br Danielson - Brother Is To Son

  by Daniel Cressey

published: 12 / 5 / 2004

Label: Secretly Canadian
Format: CD

intro

Quirky, but slight solo debut album from Br. Danielson of Danielson Famile fame

Br. Danielson – of Danielson Famile fame – has decided to claim this as a solo release. Given, however, that he seems to have brought quite a few of his Family with him you may wonder why he felt the need. Continuing the high pitched singing that will be familiar to anyone who has heard Danielson Famile releases, 'Brother is to Son' ambles through ten tracks in an interesting – if eventually unsatisfying – way. The songs are catchy enough and Danielson’s high-pitched caterwauling is compelling. Certainly nobody else is producing music quite like this at the moment. In what sometimes seems like a saturated ‘alternative’ market this could have been a real breath of fresh air. But actually this release is a bit of a disappointment. It is hard not to get left with the impression that Danielson is often singing about absolutely nothing. Also his slightly affected singing voice does occasionally slip into an annoying whine. Some of the songs on display here are probably rather too long. Even the wonderful ‘Animal in Every Corner’ outstays its welcome to a degree. That said, the last three tracks are inspired and this album is generally very entertaining. If Danielson is actually covering up the rather slight nature of his songs with general quirkiness he has done it very well. Fans of Danielson’s other material will find nothing to complain about here and the unusual sound of 'Brother is to Son' should win him some new fans. Eventually however this doesn’t really go anywhere.

Track Listing:-