Every day cells within the human body die and are replaced by newer, healthier cells. Each experience we have, joyful or terrible, teaches us something new and valuable about ourselves and the world around us. In short: our evolution and growth is a fundamental truth of reality. It makes sense that Daniel Francis Doyle is making the best songs of his career now–most musicians perpetually improve. However, not all of them create expert pop gems such as the three songs Daniel Francis Doyle shared with us this week.
Cover art for the January EP.
Doyle frequently eschews traditional timelines and formats of release (his last collection of song Demos was self-released and simply placed on his website); likewise, it’s unclear if these songs (apparently called January EP) will ever see release as a physical EP or will be part of a longer collection in the future. What’s certain is that all three of his new songs are a blend of melodically elegant and musically quirky pop tunes. As with previous songs, Doyle retains a fascination with repeated melodies. In fact, each of the songs’ titles and their uttering within the songs appear as a kernel idea, a star, around which other parts and words take shape, began to revolve, and form into a little universe.
There’s a little bit of Talking Heads in these songs and a whole lot of Jonathan Richman, but Doyle’s reference points are varied enough that he never comes close to cheap imitation. And beyond all reference points, Doyle’s distinct, rich voice defines the songs more than any other singular element. All of these songs apparently meditate on various states of extricating oneself from relationships. “One Foot Out the Door” hinges on late 50s pop sensibilities. “Spinning Through My Bones” comes alive with dark, quirky, 80s synths and possesses interludes worthy of an original NES video game; the song has so many different shifting musical parts it’s wonderfully impossible to identify what could be called a chorus, a bridge, a verse, a pre-chorus.
Conceptually and holistically, the songs succeed, but Doyle’s attention to detail is also remarkable. “Wipe Me Out of Your Life” moves back into the realm of (mostly) straightforward pop. Just as the song feels like it ends on the wry, incisive line: “In my time I’ve never seen a love so dead put up such a fight/ In my time it’s never been so hard to remove myself from somebody’s life” and a suspended note, Doyle dives back into the mix for a ten second outro with excellent backing vocals. It’s extraneous, surprising, and completely perfect. These three songs offer great promise, and the listening public should be thanking Doyle for such a gift. Listen to all three songs below.
