Danny L Harle - 1UL EP

Now, if you know me, you know that when PC Music blew up a year or so ago I was all obsessed.  I've always loved the quirky production of the label, and I've always been obsessed with acts like SOPHIE and Hannah Diamond.  However, one artist on the label who in the past year or so has completely stole my heart is Danny L Harle.  On his "Broken Flowers" EP he quickly showed us that he could easily be just as quirky and entertaining as other acts on the label.  It was a short EP, but it ushered in his sound nicely.  Plus, let's just talk about the "Super Natural" single from last year's PC Music compilation.  This track was simply put, one of the most perfect pop moments of last year.  Danny's back though with his second EP, and I'm super excited to talk about it!

(YES YES YES YES YES)

This EP starts off with the pure gold that is “1UL”.  Danny here works with an almost tropical feel right off the bat, and let me just say yes PLEASE.  I love the sort of 90’s vibe that I’m getting from this track, I almost feel like this was a long lost track from the “Night At The Roxbury” soundtrack that somehow got sent super forward in time.  Danny’s production has just gotten better and better over the years.  Danny’s constantly just working with bigger and bigger sounds, and he’s come so far from the very dreamy style he worked with in his early years.  “1UL” is a straight up banger between the HUGE (no pun intended Danny) production and the super catchy and enjoyable vocals.  This bass is gigantic, and overall this track is just such a huge statement for Danny.  In the early days, around the time of the first PC Music Compilation, I feel like Danny was struggling a bit to get his sound across.  But man, is THIS ever good.  It’s got pop appeal, but it’s also just enough outsider feel to be a PC music track.  This EP rolls on with “Heavy Eyelids”.  This one starts off so much slower and more quiet, which is interesting to say the least.  It ends up working out great however.  I love the seriously murky sounding synths in the back, this is easily one of the darker sounding PC Music tracks I’ve ever heard, and quite frankly I’m obsessed.  I really wish they would point out more often where these vocal snippets are coming from, because honestly after a while they all just kinda come off sounding like Hannah Diamond.  Which no, it’s not bad, but I would love to know out of curiosity.  As far as “Heavy Eyelids” goes, for a slow track, it’s just about the best thing that Danny or anybody on the PC Music label could have done.  It’s got a seriously thick atmosphere, and I love how this is further away from the usually pop-centric sound of Danny’s music, hell it’s almost experimental.  I’m certainly down for more of this in the future Danny, just saying.  Up next is “Happy All The Time”, which is a whole lot more in the line of what we usually get from PC Music.  It’s that classic blend of bubblegum pop and experimental booming electronic music, and it’s great.  Not, to an extent, this is just a little too sunshiny and sweet for me as far as vocals go.  But outside of that, I think Danny does a really great job of tying this one together with the very noisy and bass heavy production.  If I had to choose one track here that I wasn’t totally loving, it would be “Happy All The Time”, but even when Danny is at his lowest, he’s still breaking boundaries and working with some great sounds.  This EP finishes up with “Me4U” featuring Morrie.  For the most part, this is right up the alley of what we would usually expect to hear in the past from Danny, but it’s a little updated with some quirkier production than we’re used to hearing from him.  I love the sweet vocals from Morrie on this one and the very whimsical sounding keyboards in the background.  Once again, Danny seems to hit the nail on the head concerning the PC Music sound, that perfect blend of experimental music and pop.  It’s a sweet love track, but it’s got just enough edge to dive seriously deep into every sound Danny brings us.  

Rating : 7.8/10

Overall Thoughts:  Danny L Harle continues to be a real shining star within the fantastic PC Music label.  It's a short EP, but there's really no true down points here.  And I find it ironic that the guy who two years ago was having a real issue with finding his sound within the PC Music label is now has one of the most distinctive sounds.  So when's the full length album coming Danny?