Off the back of launching his own Music label, The Kite String Tangle (Danny Harley) releases his self- titled debut album and it is a diverse work, capturing the talent and emotions within the Brisbane artist.
The 11 standalone tracks take you through a journey within Harley’s mind. Emotive, raw, honest lyrics are backed up by a wide array of well produced, emotion hitting beats that tackle your consciousness to fall into line with the words! Written in Harley’s bedroom to continue his bedroom producer ethos, this is an album that is musically challenging yet brilliant. Throughout the album you will hear a strong presence of strings and horns plus a smattering of organs, pianos, drums and all manner of acoustic instruments.
Opening track ‘Waiting’ slowly envelops you into the world of thumping underground bass, ethereal lyrics, and building crescendos that prepare you for the emotive journey of this album. Tracks like ‘Beneath the Canopy’ and ‘Know By Now’ speak to a direct audience and the deep, rhythmic layers create a powerful connection with Harley and the lyrics, allowing the listener to reflect on their own emotive journeys. Relationships feature heavily throughout the song writing in the album, from the existential crisis involved with heartbreak to the excitement of finding new love.
‘Terracotta Warrior’ and ‘All I Need’ are further examples of The Kite String Tangle’s ability to weave emotion with sound. All these show the aptitude of the Brisbane producer to create coherent layered and poignant sounds. Given the array of instruments involved, this is a powerful combination of traditional song writing structures up against more heavily produced sounds.
This album isn’t just slow emotive beats matched with powerful lyrics. The album is littered with big room, dance floor fillers such as ‘The Prize’,’ Wanderlust’, and ‘Selfish’. With a thumping bass line, layered, intricate transitions from verse to chorus, and powerful vocals, ‘The Prize’ will raise your heart rate and make you want to move. Played back to back with powerful, Australian electronica sounds of ‘Wanderlust’, and you will be out of breath. These song will go down a treat in a festival or big hall setting.
“The Kite String Tangle” is a commanding album filled with the conceptualisation of impassioned storytelling with complex and emotive layered beats. The lyrics and vocals take you on a journey of honesty from Harley’s mind that you can’t help but connect with, whilst the song writing, productions, and engineering are world class.
Rating: ★★★★
The Kite String Tangle‘s debut album is available everywhere now via Exist Recordings.
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author: Anthony Glanville