Review by Dom Vigil
Merging elements of jazz, vintage rock ‘n’ roll and new wave, Dan Croll’s newest release, Emerging Adulthood is a modern pop triumph. These ten songs successfully explore countless genres without sounding inconsistent and all while expanding on Croll’s signature sound. From the psychedelic opener, “One Of Us” to the twinkling “Sometimes When I’m Lonely” all the way to the massive “SWIM,” Emerging Adulthood will take you on a journey and give you a few new summer anthems to blast until fall.
Funky opening track, “One Of Us” will catch your attention right away vocally and keeps things interesting as it progresses with out of this world instrumentals. Within four minutes, Croll explores countless sounds. There’s so much going on that it feels very busy, but just when it almost becomes too much, he switches things up. The upbeat surf-rock inspired second song, “Bad Boy” is the perfect natural progression from “One Of Us,” providing some consistency right away and promising hit after hit as the album continues.
By the time the third song, “24” comes in, it’ll be obvious that Croll has taken great care in crafting this release. The track list is perfect, each song flowing into the next with ease. Even when sound changes are a bit drastic, the transition is always smooth and nothing feels out of place. “24” slows things down with the dreamy bass and acoustic driven sound, something that’s perfect for summer. A few songs later is the bright, synth driven track, “Sometimes When I’m Lonely.”
The peak of Emerging Adulthood is definitely the larger than life “SWIM.” Similar to the songs that come before it, “SWIM” feels very dreamy and psychedelic, but with a bigger, poppier sound that’ll leave you humming the chorus long after it ends. Again, things transition perfectly after “SWIM” into “Educate” as well, moving into a more synth-driven territory.
Before you know it, Emerging Adulthood is already winding down with the mellow, “Do You Have To.” Although it is ten songs in length, this album plays quickly, as each song bleeds seamlessly into the next. Things come to a head on the massive, shining “Tokyo,” which seems to blend elements of each song before it ends on a high note. A good album will keep you hanging on for more, but a great one will leave you feeling satisfied by the time things come to an end, and that’s exactly what Dan Croll does with Emerging Adulthood.
LISTEN TO “SWIM” or “One Of Us”
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