ALBUM REVIEW: On ‘Reflector,’ Daniel Donato Spins Jams Into a Meaningful Journey

For his latest album, Reflector, Daniel Donato leaves it all on the floor. From the first notes and for more than a full hour, he never lets up for even a second, spinning fiery instrumental arrangements into a blissful tizzy. A product of Nashville in the truest sense — he grew up busking on Broadway before joining iconic Robert’s Western World mainstay the Don Kelly Band — Donato is already something of a journeyman. Reflector is, literally, a reflection of his well-developed tastes, like a kaleidoscopic color wheel of the music that seasoned him, from the jam-heavy Grateful Dead to the crooning country of Willie Nelson.

More than anything, Reflector is the work of a prolific live performer, and its songs convey that in every way. It wouldn’t be hard to imagine the swirling party that is “Sugarleg” or the nearly eight-minute trucker romp “Gotta Get Southbound” as living, breathing numbers that vary a little each time they’re played for a crowd. These are songs meant to feed off the energy of the people listening and moving to them. Donato and his band could play circles around the best of them, especially on hypnotic grooves like “Double Exposure” and “Dance in the Desert,” or a whimsical dust-up like “Loco #9.” The vibes are high, the psych-rock is countrified, and the guitar-playing is swaggering and confident.

Donato sings like he’s having the time of his life, and with so much natural sweetness, it nearly knocks you out when you hear how much of a punch it packs. Songs like “Lose Your Mind,” “Halfway in Between,” and “Till the Daylight,” and an acoustic follow-up of “Dance in the Desert” that closes the album, are evidence of this vocal prowess matching his command of the guitar. Reflector is melodic and big, more than just a showcase for the band’s mind-bending jam skills. It also proves Donato’s got the reins to wrangle it all into something cohesive and lasting.

Daniel Donato’s Reflector is out Nov. 10 via Retrace Music.