Temporary Obsession
Mining Cultural Ephemera since 2009
Dan Black’s breakthrough in the UK came when he posted a mashup of the Notorious B.I.G.’s “Hypnotize” and Rihanna’s “Umbrella” title “HYPNTZ” to his MySpace. Now his debut album has arrived in the States, and it builds on the influences of that track to mixed effect.
The album’s lead track, “Symphonies”, shows the clearest influence of the mix of hip-hop style beats and R&B instrumentation—the drum line is a near replica of Rihanna’s smash hit, and this contrasts nicely with the angelic instrumentation providing the rest of the song’s backbeat. Other songs that blend these disparate influences nicely are “Ecstasy” (which features some great beatboxing as part of its instrumentation) and “Cocoon”, a slower track.
Other than these songs, though, there’s not much else to recommend on UN. Black’s whiny vocals ruin the choruses of “U + Me” and “Yours”, and the swagger he displays in tracks like “Pump My Pumps” and “I Love Life” doesn’t fit with the more sensitive side he shows during much of the rest of the album. It’s easy to see what’s influenced Dan Black’s debut album; this is also its downfall. There aren’t enough tracks that feel like an original extension of these influences to truly recommend checking out the entire album.
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