Grand Plan
Oct 28, 2020 Web Exclusive
Having never actually been to Los Angeles, Dan Croll’s newest full length, Grand Plan, sounds to me a perfect soundtrack for driving with the sunroof open on a warm California evening. The album is old-fashioned pop at its bubbliest. Rather than returning to the sharp electropop of his last two records, Croll swapped Liverpool for L.A. and his minimalist synth for acoustic, retro pop.
Grand Plan finds Croll exploring the more nuanced parts of relocating somewhere new. “This isn’t a party/it’s a social interview /It determines my hierarchy between the strong and those confused,” he sings on “Actor With A Loaded Gun.” Aside from feeling lost in a new city, Croll writes about feeling lost in the more general sense. He articulates this best on the title track—“It all feels incomplete/But I never admit defeat/Everyone’s got a grand plan/But I’ve barely come prepared.”
Even the poppiest songs on Grand Plan feel melancholic. Croll has exactly captured the bittersweetness of leaving your 20s, anticipation and anxiety perfectly intertwined. The prime example of this is the two-minute long, ’60s-inspired “Rain”—“All that’s left behind now feels colorblind/A strange withdrawal that I’ve never known/So if I burn away, take me back some day/And let me soak in the home I know.” Grand Plan may find Croll questioning whether he has it all together, but his insight seems to say otherwise. (www.dancroll.com)
Author rating: 7.5/10
Average reader rating: 9/10
Most Recent
- Pulp Announce First North American Tour Dates in 12 Years (News) — Pulp, Jarvis Cocker
- Adrianne Lenker Shares Lyric Video for New Song “Free Treasure” (News) — Adrianne Lenker, Big Thief
- 20% Off Subscriptions This Week as Under the Radar’s New Issue is Shipping Soon (News) —
- Glasgow Eyes (Review) — The Jesus and Mary Chain
- Mt. Joy Share New Track “Highway Queen” (News) — Mt. Joy
Comments
Submit your comment
There are no comments for this entry yet.