ALBUM REVIEW: DANNI NICHOLLS - MAKING MOVES

A delightfully double meaning title to Danni Nicholl's new album "Making Moves" covers many of the areas that this album explores, whether it be literally making moves from the UK to the US or romantically making moves or maybe moving on when things have not worked out. The cover has Danni in a somewhat inscrutable pose, there's a definite thoughtfulness going on, it also has Danni's name breaking up the title of the album which could be a sign of what is to come.

Danni will often say her albums are all "Break up" records, "Making Moves is quite possibly the most emotionally open album yet, and as it unfolds, the listener cannot help but celebrate the highs when all is going well, but share the pain of the darker moments of despair when they don't.

The album opens with "Freewheel" which most definitely deals with a literal move, Driven by the powerful percussion and guitars it is the most pop produced song #TEAMw21 can recall coming from Danni. It deals with a fateful day, preparation for a move to the US however it is much more than that.

"Everything I own is out on my front lawn

It's all gotta go before the day is done

Every single piece a painful memory

And I want it gone"

There's a sense of being a free spirit if everything you own can fit into one car, and a new beginning if one of the things left behind is "the girl I used to be"

It's worth noting that the lines

"I'm not sitting alone at the table one more night

Sleeping in that big ol' bed just don't feel right"

suggest something traumatic has already happened.

Danni fronting a rocking combo is an absolute delight, that we'd love to see more of for sure, she sounds so incredibly self assured.

The sound then takes a move down south for some sweet Southern Soul, there's a definite John Mayer vibe in the air. The verses play out the embryonic stages of a relationship forming, with one person already 100% committed, while the other is on the edge, unsure of whether they are ready to plunge in. The chorus lyrics leave little to the imagination and it's easy to see where Danni lies.

"I want you in the early morning

I want you in my unmade bed

I want you without warning

I want you babe, oh I want you"

There are no rules that say the sound or sentiment must stay the same as you travel from track to track, and "Love Is Letting Go" is definitely more Americana sounding with a Western guitar riff running throughout and a pedal steel prominent. If the previous track was the start of a journey then this one has already reached the final stop.

"She carried off my heart as a sorry souvenir"

#TEAMw21 first heard "Honey" live in a raw, only recently finished acoustic format, it now could not be more different, with pumping percussions, synths and a notable guitar riff yet still it remains most definitely angry.

There's more word wizardry at work with the word "Lying" performing two different functions

"You must have been lying, you were lying next to me"

It's a betrayal song, and if there's any doubt as to how deep it cuts then look no further than how Danni signs off the final chorus

"Pouring honey in my ears and f***ing up my dreams"

If "Honey" was angry, then "Hide" is dreamy wistful, opening to a fast played intricately picked guitar sound. It develops with layered vocals, a cello and a Danni played sax, that proves a soothing balm to the abrasiveness of the earlier track

"The Pendulum" is one of the more complicated relationships, one trying to be rekindled

"I've been trying to claw myself back in

To a lover's heart to feel something"

The Wreckage was the albums opening single, the opening introductory 30 seconds or so are brim full of sonic ideas - electronica floating from speaker to speaker, the sound of a train, a strong acoustic guitar line and an almost ominous piano sound, slowly being picked out note by note, all going to create a definite dramatic atmosphere and with a title like "The Wreckage", drama is set to follow.

The opening verse sees Danni lyrically tease the listener, leading us towards assuming there has been some sort of car crash, which of course would tie in neatly with the title.

"How did I get here?

I didn’t see it coming

Now warning bells are wailing all around

I was going too fast, didn’t think to brake

Couldn’t decide which turn to take

Now I’m lying down here on the ground"

There's a sense confusion in the lyrics, as if in the moments following an accident, yet there is a self assured quality in Danni's delivery. The chorus continues to play with our expectations, with reference to an out of body experience. Sound wise the piano being picked out remains a common theme keeping the drama levels high.

"I rise above the wreckage

Hover in the space between

The end and the beginning

Do I lose myself?

Or do I chose to come back

To me?"

It is only as the second verse begins that this is revealed to have been a metaphor. It refers to an impetuousness to dive right in as regards to affairs of the heart, an endearing quality for sure when things go well, a recipe for heartbreak if they don't.

"My love is a fire

It burns without knowing

That even the wildest flames can be quelled

It’s a virtue, it’s a sin

I can’t resist I want to jump right in

The fire knows me well"

The second visit to the chorus sees that full on combo that opened the record return

The final verse displays a certain indomitable spirit, as Danni's journey in all senses sees her moving forward.

"Knowing the road I’m on

It won’t be blocked for long

Clear the way make some space

I gotta journey on

I gotta journey on"

On Danni's last UK tour, the track that hit #TEAMw21 the hardest was "Four Frames", there is a tragic cinematic sadness that runs through it, that is most affecting. It opens at Christmas time the season to be jolly, with a sense of good will in the air. The narrative like the photo strip comes in a set of four short lines

"Old style instant photo booth

In the corner of a smoky old bar

Cold Christmas night

Captured you in my arms"

Yet within seconds, things have withered and died

"Every picture a different face

With longing in your eyes like you'd always stay

But you were gone before the New Year came

Now all that's left of us is these four frames!

The opening verses played out mainly to Danni's acoustic guitar and Sarah Peacock's carefully picked piano notes. There is something majestic about how Danni plays out the relationship against the passing of time in just two subtle lines, the hope and warmth in the brightness of the sun against the cold bleakness of the snow.

"Dreams that blossomed in the summer sun

Faded when the snow fell to the ground"

Lifting us from despair we emerge from the darkness with Danni on "I'll Carry On", the opening verse puts Danni in a very dark place however the second verse below, captures that very moment when things start to feel better

"Every day the birds keep singing

Today I heard their song

Their melody is bringing me a little lifeline as I hum along"

It all leads to the life affirming chorus for which she is joined by a fabulous Nashville choir of friends including Sarah Peacock, Kyshona Armstrong and many more.

"I won't let the dark of night hold on so tight

Even the smallest light will find a way inside

Change is bound to come

When another day is done

I'll carry on"

The track all but blossoms and grows as the sound builds, with the choir giving a spiritual feel and the prominent upbeat banjo throughout just brings an uplifting smile to the face

Danni has found many ways of circumventing the break up song, "Making Moves" the title track is another. In essence, it is a song about moving on, yet it lingers over the fact that there has been a break up none the less. The opening verses see Danni visiting the side of town where once she was part of a couple and it understandably hurts

"I've got this sinking feeling in my heart

Feels like the weight of the world"

It even sees Danni contemplate what would happen if and when they come face to face.

"You're charming someone new in our old haunts

When I see you it's a matter of time

Part of me thinks I'll smile

Part of me thinks I'll die"

There are signs that things will one day be okay, with the initial early steps of a new relationship in a subsequent verse.

"I'm not over you but I'm making moves"

Given the journey that this album takes us on, it is only right that we end with our main protagonist if not exactly happy than in a good state of mind and "Well Enough Alone" does that. It sees Danni realising that she's been in this situation before and that maybe the choices made in the past in haste were not the best. Musically it seems to convey an inner peace and contentment with the guitars acoustic and pedal steel, initially leading the way.

"I feel it in my bones

I'm well enough alone"

It closes out ten slices of high drama, on an album, that does take the listener on a journey with its creator, it sees Danni explore new sounds as she continues on her own musical path, let's certainly hope it isn't the last we hear of the Nicholl's sax playing!