Daniel Romano has just finished crafting a musical masterpiece in which he produced, engineered and performed 11 captivating tracks. Romano’s sound fuses a timeless singer-songwriter sound with a very nostalgic AM radio country sound. Romano is best known for his work with Canadian indie outfit Attack in Black as well as production work for City and Colour.
Maybe you’ve recently had your heart stepped on, or maybe you’re thinking of traveling to the middle of the great Canadian prairies to endure a harsh winter. Either way, you should give this album a shot. The melancholy tone fused with emphasis on simplistic beauty on this record is incredibly comforting.
The 11 track LP contains several melodic songs telling tales of heartbreak. Some tracks are more uplifting and hopeful like,”There Are Lines on My Face”, which combines haunting back-up vocals, a confident Romano delivering the lead vocals and a guitar solo that sounds like it belongs on a Pink Floyd record. Other tunes are much more sinister and dark. The opening track “Time Forgot to Change My Heart” depicts a deep pain that we’ve all felt. Not many songs can get close to the painful expression of Johnny Cash’s “Hurt”, but this song certainly does.
Romano poured his heart into this record and it is more than clear in all of the emotional delivery of the lyrics and by the creative use of simple instrumentals with haunting echoes. However, the CD isn’t entirely dark. There are songs of hope like “Hard on You” which features an uplifting chorus despite the despairing lyrics. Not to mention the incredibly funny and upbeat track “Helen’s Resturant”, a classic joke country song. It uses well-timed psyche-outs that will have you in stitches. From start to finish this album is well written, well performed and perfected. It is being released on April 5th on You’ve Changed Records and is a must own album.
Daniel Romano – Time Forgot (To Change My Heart) Right click and save as to download.
@sawgr contributes to the Broken Speaker, nxew.ca, the dal gazette, and is a radio programmer at CKDU Halifax.
Daniel Romano performing at The Carleton, Halifax. Photo by: @Sawgr
While I overall agree with your review of this album (it’s fantastic) when you refer to “Johnny Cash’s Hurt” you lose some credibility. At least you should site the original songwriter.
That being said, Romano’s album is one of the best of the year thus far.