Darron J Connett -

Advantages of Living - Norrad Records

Neatly following on from Loyalty Lies comes the brand new 11 track offering, Advantages Of Living, from the talented and prolific singer/songwriter Darron J Connett. Advantages Of Living arguably, and potentially, is Darron’s best work yet. The opening track, Stare, is a scorching indie-meets-classic-British-guitar-pop stormer. and sets the scene for what is to follow. Advantages of Living, in its entirety, touches all bases, and embraces the many elements of musical styles in Darron’s repertoire. Title track is second up. The slow-burning intro builds to a powerful chorus, enhanced by the glacial backing vocals of Izzy. By contrast, blue-eyed soul stormer, Lose Myself, with its funky flavour, heads off into a different dimension, while the semi-acoustic, shimmeringly haunting Push Aside injects more than a degree of raw emotion to this album. Similar in structure to its predecessor is Forbidden Chances, albeit a stripped down to the bone lament that tugs on heartstrings. Poor Caroline sees Izzy in effect joining Darron on what is practically a duet, with Izzy’s vocals perfectly layed under Darron’s lead. We then enter dark, moody and broody territories in Lost In Transit, before Pantomime, where Darron flexes his lyrical genius to the max... ‘I’m the jester to the King and Queen’ as he artistically paints pictures with words and sounds. Chiming chords lead into Keen Aviator, a 24-carat nugget of pure pop in the true sense of the word. Penultimate number Personal Gain abounds with grooves, beats and vibes, aimed at destroying dance floors everywhere. The closing number, Venus in a Caravan, seems like the very best of an impressively highquality album’s worth of songs. Held back till last, this simply awesome track is, in my opinion, the prime contender if a single is going to be lifted from this superb new album. CD £8, free postage via PayPal at djcmusic@hotmail.com