Dan Israel - Dan (2015)

"If you don't wanna be with me, you don't gotta be with me," Twin Citian Dan Israel sings plaintively on his new release "Dan," his 13th studio album of original material. It's the sound of someone finally letting go, after years of holding on to a hope that is quite simply never going to materialize. It's the sound of acceptance, and it's not all "hang-your-head" stuff either - there is liberation here, despite the tears.

In the final verse of "Be With Me," a musically rollicking long-time-coming/shoulda-seen-it-coming break-up song that features Twin Cities chanteuse Katie Gearty on harmony vocals and Paul Odegaard on trumpet, Israel concludes "I'll leave you alone, but alone is what you'll be, you can avert your eyes, but someday you'll realize, all the good things you lost when you lost me." Pop overtones aside, these aren't bubblegum lyrics. This is a real person coming clean and setting himself free, finally. "You Don't Love Me Anymore" is a radio-ready tune of romance-gone-wrong featuring Adam Levy (Honeydogs) on guitar and Bethany Larson on vocals. Other notable special guests such as Dave Boquist (Son Volt), Dan Neale, Andra Suchy, Jenny Russ, Clay Willams, Rich Mattson (Glenrustles, Ol' Yeller), and Peter J. Sands join the core band (David J. Russ on drums, Mike Lane on bass, and James Tyler O'Neill on keys) in making Israel's lucky/unlucky record #13 soar above the pain, with basic tracks recorded at Mattson's Sparta Sound on the Iron Range in northern Minnesota and overdubs laid down at Russ's It's a Secret studios in Minneapolis.

Dan Israel has never been for the faint of heart. While his tunes overflow with hooks, his lyrics are often downcast to the point of being downright depressing, and his cantankerous, get-off-my-lawn nature gives new meaning to the term "old soul." "Old soul" nothing - sometimes Dan Israel just sounds like a grumpy old man.