Danny Baxley – “Lose Control”
There is often a riot going on in popular music, with artists generating new genres and subgenres every day. Together these artists comprise an important school of contemporary music: organic yet lush, in some cases challenging traditional song form, borrowing from the sounds of traditional rock but assembling them in wholly new ways, and managing to avoid evoking any of their forebears. Danny Baxley forms part of this new crowd. He will obviously not win pop artist of the year, simply because that’s not what he does, but he sure makes interesting alternative, indie-rock music to just lose yourself in. When it comes to alternative artists there’s a vast difference between tastes and styles offered. Baxley is slightly lo-fi with a touch of dissonance for good measure.
If that’s your thing, you’ll find plenty to like in the singles “Dream More Time For Crime” and “Lose Control” which swings between organic and electronic instrumentation. Danny Baxley who grew up in Texas and started playing and writing music since the age of 12, forges his particular blend of lo-fi indie using Logic Pro X, Maschine 2, Micro Korg, Gibson SG, Yamaha Acoustic, JBL monitors, midi controllers and an iMac.
In an ocean of music sameness there are not many artists and groups who can claim a distinct sound and original approach in their work. More often than not is not because of lack of talent or skill.
There are many talented and accomplished musicians yet what elevates some above the rest often comes in the form of a few unexpected notes, an interesting tempo, inventive phrasing, and even the use of dissonance that is personal and captivating. Danny Baxley possesses those qualities. Without resorting to flashy pyrotechnics but staying committed to making music he has created two songs that glisten, each in its own unique way.
The music on “Lose Control” is intricately layered; the vocals are highly reverbed in certain parts but immediate in others, while the tempo is in constant evolution. The synth stabs sound like a soundtrack to some classic videogame, but there are many discoveries that surface with every listening.
With Baxley one song can sound simple, sweet, bare, and the next moment a dark thickness of sound can engulf you and take you into another realm. “Dream More Time For Crime” is something similar to what you would expect from Depeche Mode, ignoring the ‘sweet’ strumming and dissonant vocals used in places. I think these tracks are a great mix of the poetic that meets dark indie-rock.
