Daniel Blake - Shapes EP (2024) Hi-Res

Daniel Blake Dots the Road to Realized Dreams in ‘Shapes’ EP. A testament to the power of music scenes and their embrace of honest, hard-working artists is Los Angeles and its adoption of Daniel Blake. The Phoenix native and rising L.A. star debuts his new EP Shapes to set another marker in a music career that, despite real-life challenges, has continued its must-see, sparkling trajectory. With a scene firmly behind him, Blake takes listeners on an introspective, soothing ride.

“The Weight Of The Words” is a fitting first track, as it encompasses the EP’s theme of using similar chord shapes to produce uniquely different compositions, evoking new emotions, much like how the same words can convey entirely different stories. A serene song, led by piano keystrokes, a thumping kick-drum, and Blake’s comforting falsetto, paints a picture of reflection and resilience among motel neon signs.

“Salted kisses in the rain, they were barely sweet / Cut me loose and when in doubt with the weight of the words,” Blake sings, romanticizing, and perhaps personifying his La La Land surroundings, which push him out and pull him back in with force. This coincides with the rollercoaster of mindsets the artist has experienced since moving to Los Angeles, overcoming doubts and personal struggles to achieve his musical aspirations.

“You’ll never know how far we’ve come / Still in all the shadows of all that we’ve been running from,” is how the second composition “Burn” kicks off. The music, optimistic in tone, with a swirling acoustic and electric guitar ascension in the vein of true indie-country, is a mirror-flip of fortunes worth dissecting. What once seemed impossible has become reality, as the once-new Angeleno now plays sold-out shows at Hotel Cafe.

“In Circles” pays homage to the doubts that create running minds and their constant acrobatics, with a chord modification that sparks a guitar riff speeding at the same velocity. As brass instruments take flight, Blake raises and lowers pitch with the aptitude of impressive vocal contemporaries like England’s Sam Ryder. The jazz-tinged musical dash strikes a balance between urgency and a satisfying contemplative pause.

Appreciating those stops, where we ponder the highs and lows of life, is a continued theme in “Some Days,” which, with its alt-folk spirit, aims to enchant us into reflection. “Chasing After Midnight,” with its water-drop guitar plucks and rousing beat, swells to provide the tidal wave that, in its sonic crescendo, lifts Blake and his elegant vocalizations to plains undiscovered but rightfully earned.

Having put music on the back burner for years while working in construction, Blake energized himself with the music scene surrounding him, enjoying the indie artists plying their trade and making connections that encouraged him to reinvigorate his dreams. The result is a successful singer and songwriter with a new perspective on all the components that helped him arrive at the dance of musical stardom.

Shapes is a journal, with songs as pages, which provides an artist with opportunities to dot the road taken to a dream realized. If each track is a contemplation of what-ifs or a reassurance of successes to come, listeners are privy to an innermost journey written in melodies and refrains that have captured a city and beyond.