WILL DAILEY's music may be rooted in classic rock -- as he says, "it's part of your vernacular growing up" -- but his songs aren't stuck in the past, they're vital, beautiful tunes about the here and now. And there's no better illustration of how WILL is all about the present than TORRENT, which is not an album in the conventional sense: it's an on-going project. Call TORRENT a conversation between artist and audience, as it invites listeners to follow WILL on his journey as an artist, to witness how he writes and records songs, to be part of his creative process.
Throughout 2009, WILL is digitally releasing EPs every three months, all collecting songs he's recently written. "After you're done, you realize, 'Oh! That's what it's about," he explains, so each installment of TORRENT reflects a certain theme or mood. The first, FASHION OF DISTRACTION (released January 20), was largely written under the influence of the sounds of the '60s and early '70s, particularly the Byrds, so it's fitting that Roger McGuinn guests as a guitarist/vocalist on "Peace of Mind," a song whose lyrics are very much rooted in 21st century topical concerns and timeless emotional introspection. Another EP, BY THE BLUE HILLS (released March 17), is a collection of songs saluting Boston and WILL's musical family there, featuring cameos from Boston luminaries and Dailey friends Kay Hanley (Letters to Cleo), Tanya Donelly (Belly, Throwing Muses), Elliott Easton (The Cars), Tim Brennan (Dropkick Murphys) and local fixtures Duke Levine and Sean Staples. These two EPs were paired as a physical CD, entitled TORRENT 1&2, which was released June 9, complete with extras and presented in CODE, a high-resolution audio standard pioneered by T-Bone Burnett.
In 2006, WILL DAILEY won the Boston Music Award for “Best Male Singer/Songwriter,” followed in 2007 with the signing of a new label deal with CBS Records who re-issued his album, BACK FLIPPING FORWARD (which was recorded in nine days). From there, his music started popping up in hit TV shows like “The Hills,” “CSI: Miami,” “Eli Stone” and most recently on “CSI: New York,” performing on camera. All this activity laid the groundwork for TORRENT.
In a recent live review, the New York Post praised: “Sometimes you don’t even have to turn on a TV to discover the next American Idol…Forget the last five months of force-fed artificial pop music on TV…Will Dailey is the real deal.”
Meanwhile, TORRENT 1&2 has been racking up rave reviews:
“‘I’m gonna win your heart, one attack at a time,’ promises this soulful singer-songwriter. And he does just that on this album.”
--People
“Dailey’s sumptuously clever lyrics take the spotlight…Dailey’s troubadour persona proves effective.”
--Music Connection
No comments:
Post a Comment