Daniel Rossen’s bardic musicianship reaches upwards in his debut album. Reflecting upon the passage of time and how it affects him as things change around him, with winding melodic compositions and vocal musings mirroring those tensions. Those arrangements can be a double-edged sword, but still allows for captivation at certain moments.
There is a bardic briskness in Daniel Rossen’s debut record. Like the bards that span across strands of folk all across time, you can see those characteristics of buoyant, languid, and poetic bulkiness in Daniel Rossen’s skillset. Extending further to Bard’s and their characteristics, they have their flair in the baroque from their ability to put up a voice that picks up a soft yet evocative heft, instrumental playing that goes in lingering yet impactful melodic waves, and poetry that have its eye for grounded and observant detail. It is a style that Daniel Rossen is immediately equipped for, especially with his contributions as a vocalist and a multi-instrumentalist in the indie darling groups such as Grizzly Bear as well as Department of Eagles. It’s those contributions that certainly carried over to his solo EP in 2012 during a hiatus for the Grizzly Bear group.
Building up to his debut record certainly translates all of his instrumental and vocal wits from his entire experience of being the main part of those bands for a few decades now. ‘You Belong There’ puts his endeavors towards putting his personal experiences and musical knowledge into play, now with the isolation digging further into putting more time to expand his instrumental skillset. It’s a debut album that felt like his fifth one down the road, the chamber folk instrumental bulk and lavishly imparting vocals brings a sense of immersion that this album delivers in spades. Yet, the poetry strays and the melodic progressions are not as grand, more so stumbles into cracks of humanity and nature that relate to Daniel Rossen’s own staggering conflicts in his own life.
The album reflects on Daniel Rossen parsing through the tensions that passed by on years of his life, with his bardic expressions pulling things all together. ‘Unpeopled Space’ indulges in winding progressions, letting the nimble acoustic and bass guitar passages, snappy drum rhythms, and dour strings accentuate Daniel’s vocal harmonies flourish through. Delving into the lyrical descriptors of feeling nothing as years pass by and words seem to lose their worth, something that Daniel resorts to thinking on this very song. Those certain sentiments come through in scattered reminders. ‘Shadow in the Frame’ stirs through with similar wind-up progressions from the cycling fingerpicked guitar, crashing drum stomps, and slight horn and string swivels that take prominence in the mix as Daniel’s thoughtful vocals steps in and out of the instrumental grandeur. It allows his song that deals with a world that crumbles apart and leaves everyone torn apart to feel raptured, whereas in a world that does not care for all people, it will be the inevitable fate as others will observe those close to them fall under that fate. It’s something that relates to Daniel Rossen, where not just from the personal struggles he feels, but also affects how he looks at people that he protects, especially his own daughter.
It’s clear that his anxious state of mind touches on the rest of the tracks, which allows him to connect to figures around him in one way or another. ‘I’ll Wait For Your Visit’ shows that air of resolution of someone to a past drifting bond in the lyrics, delivered with the shambling percussion lines, languid woodwinds, rumbling guitar chords, and echoing vocal harmonies that simmer through up till the end where they all claw out, spinning a sense of emotional desperation. Themes are reinforced yet again before at ‘You Belong There’ and after at ‘The Last One’, the former cruising through slow but immersive instrumental blasts where the sparse lyricism details two masses finding mutual connection, a connection that may have been lost in time. And the latter disposes of the strength that soon depletes in time, requiring someone to need a person that they shared love with, a sentiment that is complete with grand swells of weary guitar passages, drum patterns, and gloomy horns.
These themes eventually tie down to the acceleration of time, and how it reflects Daniel Rossen's observations of life. ‘Tangle’ reflects upon a feeling that felt grand before but is now losing its luster as time keeps ticking down. A theatrical piece blooming with arpeggiated pianos, deep bass guitar, and crumbling drum blasts that overwhelm and takes a slower rest, where the vocals are now delivered with some hesitation from their heightened emotions. ‘Keeper and Kin’ takes for meditative contemplation, where maturity from two people allows their reconnection to feel calming, a respite that’s mirrored by the reverbed vocals, cycling guitar and drum loops, and pensive piano chords. A closer that encapsulates insights surrounding life and death, ‘Repeat the Pattern’ ends the record with dry guitar accompaniments just before it slows down, eventually allowing Daniel’s vocals to be at the center of all the swirling instrumentation. Reminding that at the end comes loss, and the new comes to a fresh start of patterns.
It’s a lot, where both the simple yet reflective lyrics are delivered effectively by the expanse of the instrumentation and vocalized arrangements from Daniel Rossen himself. However, this is where that folk flourish loses its grip, a double-edged sword that unfortunately affects the longer and shorter track lengths of the record. As much as the longer pieces provide a sense of dynamics in how Daniel Rossen treats each instrument with detailed flair, that flair can allow the melodic passages of some of these tracks to blur with one another. It’s an unfortunate aspect that can be seen with ‘Keeper and Kin’ where all of the weaving instruments make the overall song to be misty in the worst way possible. ‘Tangle’ and ‘I’ll Wait For Your Visit’ eventually show the same issue as well, the former with the rather head-scratching abrupt transition to the second half that sounded underwhelming, and the latter, while still impressive overall is still hampered by a bit with the winding buildups that still feels a little overwhelming to get through. And as much as the shorter lengths of certain tracks are there to help make the flow feel well-paced, it does not excuse just how it smoothens out in a way that only makes them underwhelming. ‘You Belong There’ with its spare lyrical details only aided with brimming drum patterns that felt empty. So does ‘Celia’ with its sluggish melodies that don’t stay its welcome, and then there’s ‘Repeat The Pattern’, a song that crams in another melodic section that makes the ending to be crooked and unflattering. It does not help that while the lyrics themselves are good to think through, they can be a little confusing to digest due to the details being slightly vague regarding their links to the themes of time, life, and bonds with other people. While the simplicity of the construction of these lyrics is not a problem, it could’ve been a little bit more flowery in spots.
For a record that winds down and weaves through the reflections of Daniel Rossen’s mindset towards time, connections, and life itself, it can be quite conflicting. It definitely broods with a rich and bulky set of arrangements that Daniel Rossen for the most part composed, only showcasing his talents still ever growing even after being in two beloved bands since the 2000s. However, that folk splashiness can be its own benefits and flaws and as much as Daniel Rossen can carry the impact from his performances alone, the melodies that are both languid and spare are both appreciative at best and blurry at worst. And while his musings surrounding time, people, and life can be emotive, the details can get slightly vague and broad, only making the lyrics a bit confusing to indulge in and can mute the emotional resonance of the listener. But still, there is that captivating lavishness that can make certain tracks feel wonderful to approach, but probably not easy to get into given their bulky nature. However, once you’ve adapted yourself to the spooling patterns the record dips into, you will find yourself roaming around its world and may find yourself belonging to that expressive world.
Favorite Tracks: It’s A Passage, Shadow In The Frame, Unpeopled Space, I’ll Visit For Your Wait
Least Favorite Track: Celia