Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Dan D
Label: ZKP RTV Slovenija
Release: 2015
Rating: 4/5
Dan D hardly need a detailed introduction, since they’re one of those few Slovenian rock bands that have become so-called »household names«, the kind that pretty much every resident of Slovenia knows. But this year Dan D said goodbye to everything that, judging by the artistry they’ve shown so far, the very same music crowd expects from them and, even worse, flat-out demands: the crowd that’s used to the band regularly hammering out easy-listening evergreens.
With Ura leta za ekstravagantne ptice, Dan D truly erected a studio monument of sorts, one where musicality and sonic experimentation came together in ideal symbiosis. At the same time, that story somehow ran its course, and over the following years the band got a taste of new horizons that drew them toward exploring. After the more than successful experiment called Tiho, the band surprised everyone in mid-April 2015 with the album »DNA D«, which, as the first part – the so-called »White Album« – served up some loose, daring rock. A completely unexpected approach to new material we’d waited a solid six years for. And before the end of 2015, the band rounded it out with the second part of the album: the »Black DNA D Album«.
The »Black Album« keeps on surprising. The band has basically created the polar opposite of the »White Album«. Twins. Except one is black and the other white. Most of the songs from the »White DNA D Album« are completely rearranged on the new, black one, turned upside down. Most, because there are also two brand-new ones on the album, Matica and V tvojih očeh. As for the song Rekli so, that’s really just a more politely titled Kurbin sin from the »White DNA D Album«. So, in short: what’s the »hook« of the »Black Album«? The rock directness of its predecessor has been replaced entirely by a subtly seductive story built completely on experimenting with electronics. Programmed samples and loops, synths and keyboards now move to the front of the arrangements, while the guitars stick around as a token presence, only an occasional seasoning, much like the English horn and harmonica. The »Black Album«, which sails entirely on a blanket of electronic sonic experimentation (synths, programmed loops,…), effectively keeps all of the band’s recognizable expression, while Tokac’s interpretation of the verses paints completely different emotions and passions. The »Black Album« is a far gloomier record than its predecessor, or rather its brighter »DNA D« brother. Time and again it hits you with the realization of how one and the same track can work completely differently in a different arrangement. Even diametrically opposite.
The »Black DNA D Album« doesn’t skimp on experimental adventurism. On it you’ll pick out elements of the early sounds of underground-alternative exploration with the first synthesizers from the late seventies and early eighties, from early Depeche Mode to Bauhaus, even a whiff of krautrock, and you can also sense some dabbling in industrial elements, which in a different story could even bring Laibach to mind.
The »Black DNA D Album« is a new document of the band’s healthy artistic maturing and growth. With it, Dan D »shook up« themselves, and »shook up« a wide fan base that expected something completely different. A band »peeling itself away« from expectations and predictable stylistic moves is a hugely positive, welcome and much-needed act, because that’s how it tests how far it can develop artistically and push its expression in the future. After all, the easiest thing is to routinely stick to a proven recipe that guarantees success. Luckily, the band’s courage reaches further than that. So with the »White«, and above all with the »Black DNA D Album«, Dan D are skillfully circling through the discovery of new horizons, which lets them return to their roots at the same time and, in a way, »air them out«.
Both albums, the »White« and the »Black«, are best listened to back to back. That way you’ll get as close as you can to the band’s character and work, and to the point of development they reached in 2015. One thing is clear. Dan D aren’t stopping their evolution, and with this record too they keep their freshness and youthful spirit, hungry to discover new and ever newer musical dimensions and horizons. The »Black Album«, which deliberately doesn’t go looking for evergreen hits (just like the »White Album« before it), but instead takes on a new artistic challenge and makes contact with a still unexplored horizon, proves that Dan D know no tried-and-tested artistic restraint that would guarantee them success in advance. They’d rather boldly and daringly throw themselves into ever newer musical adventures, and so keep drawing creative freedom with full lungs.
Line-up
Tomislav Jovanović (Tokac) – guitar, vocals
Marko Turk (Tučo) – guitar
Boštjan Grubar (Bošti) – keyboards
Nikola Sekulović – bass guitar
Dušan Obradinović (Obra) – drums
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Melina Todorovska – English horn on track no. 13
Janez Podlesek – violin on track no. 13.
Matjaž Porovne – violin on track no. 13.
Oliver Dizdarević Škrabar – viola on track no. 13.
Klemen Hvala – cello on track no. 13.
Rudi Javornik – saxophone on track no. 9.
Production
Žarko Pak
Track list
1. Klon
2. Solze iz neba
3. Matica
4. V tvojih očeh
5. Ni je
6. Zdaj gre zares
7. Brat moj (za Srđana)
8. Mama ne dovoli
9. Odrešitev
10. Ona sanja
11. Hlapec
12. Rekli so
13. Sonca 2
14. Pozitivne misli (skrita skladba)
