Daphne Loves Derby - Album Review
Good Night, Witness Light Is Seattle's Daphne Loves Derby New CD
Apr 9, 2007
- Genre: indie / alternative / indie rock
- Kenny Choi (vocals / guitar), Spencer Abbott (guitars), Stu Clay (drums)
- Sounds like: The Cardigans, Prefab Sprout, Strangeways
- Home: Kent, Washington
- Daphne Loves Derby
When a band cites that in order to write their new album, they locked themselves away and listened to the likes of Frank Sinatra, The Eagles, Janis Ian and The Cardigans in order to find some inspiration, you'd be forgiven for wondering exactly what the result could possibly be. Thankfully, although Good Night, Witness Light has one foot in the past, it's only as far as classic song structure goes. And it's this kind of approach that gives Daphne Loves Derby a contender for melodic rock album of the year this early into 2007.
Coming off the back of a huge promotional tour for their last album, the 2005 debut On The Strength Of All Convinced, the summer of last year saw the band decide to take time off and record the follow-up to the well-received debut, and if Good Night, Witness Light is what happens when bands look to the masters for inspiration, perhaps more artists should follow Daphne Loves Derby's lead.
A New Voice In Bittersweet
Bringing to mind the cult British indie band Prefab Sprout, as well as little-known Scottish rockers Strangeways, the album is full of lush arrangements mixed with bittersweet vocals from Kenny Choi, that lend an air of desolation to each song. From the opening intro that is Are Two Chords Enough, Dear?, a beautifully mellow meld of marching drums, soft vocals and harmonies wrapped around a wall of keyboards, to guitar-led track Stranger, You And I (which perhaps shows the Prefab Sprout comparison the most, with the lyrical style of Paddy McAloon throughout the track), Daphne Loves Derby is a band that can at once inspire and elicit sympathy at the same time.
Indeed, when Choi laments "I'm sure we'll be fine / You've got your friends and I / I've got my makers and all this time" on Stranger, You And I, you can feel the pain for yourself. This theme continues with next track, Iron In The Backseat, where once again Choi's lyrical prowess comes to the fore as he cries "if you ever want some trouble / but can't afford the alcohol / I'll be here, I'll be here waiting". For anyone whose ever loved and lost and knows the despair it causes, they have a new voice in Choi.
Stripped Bare
Yet just when you feel that Daphne Loves Derby may just be a one-trick pony, they throw something into the mix that spins everything completely. Just before the bombast that is That's Our Hero Shot, with its bold wind instruments leaning through it, it's preceded by a full marching band intro, called simply Marching Band Intro, which has shades of the classic Hawaii Five-O theme tune running through it. It's little touches like this that keeps the band one step ahead of anyone trying to second-guess them.
Yet it's not just full arrangements and multi-layered production that's atypical of the Daphne Loves Derby sound. Halfway through the album is the understated Cue The Sun, an eloquent acoustic track that is possibly the song that may just find the band reach the heights their music deserves. Simple, emotive and rich, it's a reminder that even the most stripped down production can reap diamonds.
Equal Amongst Giants
Whether it's on up-tempo tracks like Miniature Christmas Tree, or the bass-heavy Love & Mercy, to the closing track How's It Going To End? with its gentle, almost hypnotic sway allowing Choi's vocals to soar above and around the accompanying backing, Daphne Loves Derby have shown on this album that their debut was no fluke. With a major headline tour currently under way (which Suite101 will be reporting on soon) as well as word-of-mouth spreading like positive wildfire, 2007 may just be the year that sees the band become equals to the peers they once cited as influences.
