Album Review – Un by Dan Black

Un by Dan Black

Dan Black is a British electronica artist based in Paris and was previously a member of alt rock band The Servant. He has been hyped by a fairly respectable source, namely Zane Lowe.

The album starts well with “Symphonies”. It is extremely melodic and quickly gets you into head-nodding, thigh-slapping territory. Next up is “U + Me =” which, just as it started to feel a little too light, introduced some deep bass-y vocals. “Ecstacy” is the next track and takes the pace down a little but definitely keeps the head nodding going with a couple of good hook lines. “Alone” is the track he had released last year and it’s very listenable, building up from a slow start to a crescendo of beats and then easing off again before raising the tempo back up.

Track 5 is “Cocoon” and begins with a moody intro joined by acoustic guitar and then Black’s vocals. It’s a little too much of a poor-man’s ballad to be honest. Black seems to work much better when he keeps messing around with the tempo and maintains high energy. “Yours” jumps on the funky train, mixing disco, Latin and RnB influences and leads into “Pump My Pumps”, a track that has a very pleasing bassline and then “Wonder” keeps us on edge with a slow opening accompanied by a menacing beat.

“Cigarette Pack” and “Life Slash Dreams” get a little too slow for my liking and then “I Love Life” raises things a little again with some crisp lyrics and samples. The album ends with “Let Go”, a track that sounds much more British than the others and finishes things on a pretty mellow vibe.

There’s an obvious combination of RnB and Electro templates with this album and it works well. It isn’t exceptionally clever or as cutting-edge as some fans seem to think but, if it’s not overly analysed, the album stands up strong and will definitely have you, at the very least, moving around in your chair.

7.5/10 and certainly worth a listen.