When we hear the term “singer-songwriter,” most people’s minds turn to some guitar-wielding troubadour, a minstrel cast in the traditional image. And whilst that might have been the case a generation ago, the world has moved on, and those images need to be updated. Updated to include artists like Maxwell Knowles, singer-songwriters who create sonic backdrops for their songs out of delicate piano cascades and dreamscape synths, ebbs of drifting sonics, and flows of deft minimalism.
His debut album, Daydreaming in the Dark, is built on such musical designs, and across ten songs, he weaves his emotive lyrics and poetic imagery through these gorgeous soundscapes.
If the title track proves to be a brilliantly sparse and spacious piece, “SEA (Forget the River)” shows that, in the right hands at least, it is possible to build up layers of such minimal threads into something truly powerful, musically poignant…anthemic. The song has a wonderful slow-burning dynamic and a brilliant play-off, and it delivers the same sentiment of striving for more that I always loved about The Waterboys‘ equally majestic “This is the Sea.”
“I Can’t Die (Without You)” breaks into lush, love-lorn, and longing indie-folk territory, the brilliantly titled “It’s 10:47, and I’m Thinking of You” is a delicate neo-classical piano piece, and the album ends with the more elevated and infectious pop of “Monsters.”
“Daydreaming in the Dark” is a reminder that everything moves with the times, and in the case of music, the technology and tools available. It is also a reminder that the sounds made are just a vehicle, and the sentiment, style, imagination, and musical dexterity of the artist decide whether a song works or not. And these songs certainly work, no matter what pre-ordained generic box you want to attempt to force them into.
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