Daisy House – Sounds of Today’s Real Hits

I was turned on to three hit albums last week, all by a duo calling themselves Daisy House. I had forgotten what it was like, hearing track after track after track and thinking hit, hit, hit, hit as I listened. I kept expecting it to end, this string of songs, but they didn’t. One after another, the songs piled one on top of the other, all more than worthy of airplay on the AM radio in my head. Good songs. Wonderful songs. Like Ebenezer Scrooge, I was giddy with delight. I didn’t think I would experience it again, albums packed to the gills with musical delight. Maybe all of the tracks weren’t Top Ten, but they were chartable.

You hear it? The early Fairport Convention influence? The Judy Dyble/Sandy Denny-leaning voice? The layering of acoustic and electric guitars? As important, the choral background, especially at the end of the bridge? The twelve-string lead? This is not only good stuff, it is arranged to perfection. And there is more.

It is not all psych-infused folk/pop. They bend genre to song but always with a melodic and harmonic edge. Indeed, the melodies and harmonies are what elevates them to hit status. What (songs) they record are pleasant to the ear with just enough edge to make them fresh.  

So after all of the talk about harmonies, I give you one with just Tatiana’s voice. Sigh. Fear not, there is more to come. But I hear the sixties and early-seventies in that voice, partially due to voice and partially to the song itself. And truth be told, Doug Hammond has a real touch when it comes to songwriting.  

And he, too, has a voice. An exceptional one, especially when teamed up with Tatiana’s. Smooth, slightly textured, hits the right notes (you would be surprised how many don’t these days). Very Jimmie Spheeris-like on this tune.

I could nominate any one of these albums for a Grammy in a number of categories but if it had to be one (or two), it would have be production and arrangement. Some of the songs are simple and almost sparse by the albums standards while others are arrangement gems, the voices stacked, the guitars weaving in and out, the piano/harpsichord/organ placed precisely, and the crescendos well-placed and amazingly effective.  

It’s almost over and I will bet you hardly felt it, the songs the perfect icebreaker to what could have been the drudgery of reading. I have done you a favor. I have switched out words for music— one video is worth ten thousand words. Now, if you will, head to the Daisy House Bandcamp page and download. Stream away and get comfortable for I will even allow you to download individual tracks. 

You are welcome.