Dan Flynn - Ghost Melodies (2017)

The older I get, the faster time seems to pass. Two years felt like an eternity when I was younger, but now it seems to pass in the blink of an eye. When time appears to pass so quickly, hearing the music an artist you enjoyed a couple of years ago is making now can seem jarring. But as I’ve learned listening to Ghost Melodies, the latest effort from Dan Flynn, evolution can be a good thing.

I must admit, this isn’t an album I immediately warmed to. Dan’s mellow folky sounds seemed to be buried underneath synthesizers, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about. The electronic sounds seemed at odds with his hushed, soothing voice, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. Yet I found myself coming back to Ghost Melodies. It’s taken me about a week, but I think I’m on board.

That’s not to say that every song is a success for me. The opening songs, “Get Ready for a Fight” and “Everything He Does” still haven’t revved me. The music has such an energetic pop feel that Dan’s gentle vocals don’t quite match. But then with “Across the Wire,” a more mellow, dramatic number, I think everything fell into place. The following song, “This Too Shall Pass,” has a great groove reminiscent of The Temper Trap that I also love.

Dan hasn’t abandoned his folk roots completely. The songs still have a folk undercurrent, although often that gets lost in the instrumentation. “One Eye Open” is a return to the finger-picking acoustic driven songwriting I first fell in love with though. The Johnny Cash-inspired “Man I Have Become” is similarly stripped back. These songs have such a nostalgic feel, and I’m thankful for their inclusion, even if they don’t quite seem like they fit on this album.

“Last Waltz,” the final track on Ghost Melodies, is another daring left turn, a simplistic love song that you might imagine your grandparents slow dancing to. It’s an interesting progression from “This One’s For You.” On the surface, the two songs don’t seem to have a lot in common: one a lush synthesized charmer driven with big booming drums, the other much more restrained and nostalgic. However, at their core they’re both waltzes. Once you make peace with that, the juxtaposition makes so much sense.

Dan Flynn takes some real risks with Ghost Melodies. The results don’t always resonate with me, but when the gambles pay off it’s so rewarding. Listening to this album can be challenging, but I’d rather that than hearing something that plays it too safe.