Music Review

Daniel Ellsworth-Blurry

There was a time, not that long ago (if you consider it relative to the entirety of time) that Daniel Ellsworth was a pretty regular staple of this website. His band, Daniel Ellsworth & The Great Lakes were featured here often. It’s been almost 5 years since the last post about him, and that’s really a shame because he’s a fantastic songwriter.

He’s been working on some solo material lately, and the third EP in his series I Have/No Clue/What/I’m Doing is coming out on July 14th. “Blurry” is the second single from What, and sadly the first song of his I’ve really listened to in a long while. It’s so catchy and fun that it fills me with a kind of sad rage that I’ve missed out on some great music over the last few years.

I first met Daniel when The Great Lakes were playing a show at Schubas with The Shams Band and they recorded a quick Hasty Revelations session for me over at Handwritten. All really nice guys, and Daniel was nice and approachable while also being very obviously talented. Hearing what he’s doing now, while quite different from that early impression, it’s clear that the talent I saw then has grown immensely.

“Blurry,” and the first single “Lost In The Rhythm” allow Daniel to put all his love of synthy pop into play with multiple vocal tracks and intricate beats. The influence of today’s top hitmakers can be felt, but the songs don’t feel like they’ll be lost in the moment with other tunes. The production and songwriting are a couple of cuts above what you might hear in most pop, and that’s what will help them stand the test of time.