The interdimensional all-round musical visionary DAN REED (of Dan Reed Network) has released his fifth solo album, titled Liftoff ! available now on all streaming and download platforms.
Dan unswervingly offers an intuitive antidote to the darker aspects of modern life and has been bringing his transformative and mood-enhancing music to millions since the mid-1980s.
“Shed My Skin” (video shared below) is a brushstroke-rich masterwork of texture, tonality and spirituality… sinuously revealed and perfectly drawn in a very lulling way.
The song has exquisitely rendered synths, cute guitars, and delightfully vocalized lyrics. It’s the kind of comforting but interrogative number you might have found on The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (Genesis 1974) in both concept and creative imagery, but transcends and illuminates — as Santana’s Caravanserai did — in the early 1970’s.
The smooth gait of “Back To Earth” (with shiny backing vox performed by Emily Lynn & Lara Smiles) is languidly undulating with chambray orchestrations and adorable, eddying guitars.
“Spaceship Built For Two” is glittering spacey and not unlike something you’d expect from Prince in his “Revolution” days. It’s about finding oneself “above” a world that has been torn apart by conspiracies and political opinions, some of which are reprehensible. Yet this number is healing, conciliatory, and detoxifying.
The title track “Liftoff” is a smooth R&B jam in the Biffco style popular back in the early 1990s. It has that quiet, luscious quality — with sparkling harmonies, delicate riffs, and the kind of surreal airbrushed atmosphere you might expect from characters such as Ellie Goulding, Atomic Kitten, or Gabrielle… in other words, this is breathless and ever-so slightly narcotic.
Although not as experimental as jazz fusion, the sounds on this ambitious album embody a contemplative mood. And while the tracks may not be as rhythmic as 2020’s modern R&B, the sounds share the same polished sheen.
We think Liftoff! is a generous offering of soulful rock contemplation
Words: @neilmach 2020 ©
Link: https://www.facebook.com/DanReedMusic
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