Daniel Hugh - Now Or Never
Review by Karl Magi
Overall Album Impressions
Daniel Hugh’s Now Or Never combines heartfelt emotion, superb vocal performances and ear-pleasing synthpop vibes to take listeners on an enjoyable journey through hope, love and dreams.
One of the most appealing aspects of Now Or Never is the earnest, heartfelt emotions that are expressed within the songs. Daniel Hugh isn't afraid to lay feelings bare and allow them to show. There’s something so touching and honest about the songwriting which adds depth and intensity to the album. I also enjoy the songwriting contributions made by Hideotronic and Emily Zuzik.
Daniel Hugh’s voice is another factor in the strength of Now Or Never as an album. He has range, expression and the ability to convey different emotional states with clarity. His voice gives the listener a sense that he takes each feeling to heart and expresses it with real conviction. I enjoy how he inhabits the songs as he sings them. Emily Zuzik’s guest vocals on also add their own unique energy.
I also enjoy the synth energy suffusing the album. The music walks the fine line between pastiche and originality quite well. There’s a palpable nostalgia to many of the synth sounds, but they are combined in fresh ways to keep them interesting. The end result manages to capture an ‘80s synthpop sound, while avoiding cliché. Chris Ward’s sax playing also adds an enjoyable flair on “Now Or Never.”
My Favourite Tracks Reviewed
“Heartbeat" comes into being as gruff synth chords move below gently slipping, warming notes. Daniel Hugh’s richly evocative voice carries a tenderly touching vocal melody as throbbing drums and stout bass heartbeat move in. Drums propel the music as pastel synth whorls flow and Daniel Hugh’s emotional voice soars up with the encouraging chorus.
The way in which sharper synth edges contrast with the vocals’ soothing emotion is pleasing for me. After a drum fill, the percussion’s pulse supports flashing, steadily moving synth notes that add light over Daniel Hugh’s voice. The vocals exude feeling with each syllable as the energizing drums and bass move the music on. The shining elevated synth pulsates hypnotically until the end.
Our narrator begins by asking the song’s subject if they’re carrying a heavy burden and if that person can find a way to get through the day. He asks, “do you wonder when the music disappeared? Did the beat inside your heart just fade away?”
The teller of this tale adds that the other person once shone and sparkled, moving as if “the rhythm flowed directly through you.” He says that he will connect that person to “a heartbeat” and dance with them.
Our storyteller wants to know if the other person can hear the song inside their head. He reminds them to “listen to the soundtrack of your life.” As the song concludes, the storyteller adds that if the other person gives it a chance “the world outside will start to fade away.”
Rebounding drums and dense, oscillating bass are touched by arcing arpeggios carried on chiming synth as “The Truth” opens. Life is added to the song by the driving, bouncing drumbeat as the full-sounding, glittering synth rises in bright clouds.
Now the drums and bass pulsate alone before lively vocals leap out, carrying a vaulting melody. Quickly flickering, dancing arpeggios sparkle behind the melancholy-tinged chorus before the jumping vocal melody is beautifully carried by Daniel Hugh’s expressive voice.
Massive drums and weighty bass that keep the track moving. A half tempo section arises in which huge percussion bursts before the drumbeat becomes steadily propulsive and shiny arpeggios add shape and texture. The song ends on delicately sunny notes.
The song opens as the narrator talks about “dynamite, burning castles left and right” as he says that he wants to stay with the song’s subject until the dawn, after they’ve driven away together. He goes on to talk about breathing the other person in when they’re close and “making our bodies disappear.”
As our storyteller goes on, he says that he’s getting to know the other person’s soul and letting go “of all my fear that the truth just sounds a little bit different when you say it out loud.” He adds that the one can somehow hear that the the truth sounds different.
Now the narrator goes on to talk about how we live in an era in which we “televise” as we’re “caught in a knot of endless lies” and trapped in a world without surprise as each moment is “posed for the camera eyes.” Again the message that the truth is different when stated aloud is repeated.
Our storyteller says that as they let the radio play music that ebbs and flows as “our emotions overgrow” they won’t look back now that he knows about the way the truth sounds spoken out loud.
The narrator talks about how an emotion can change in state as he says “call it love in the evening, call it lust in the morning.” He elaborates that during the night "it's a feeling” but in the day it’s “a warning.”
He says that he’d missed “a million dreams” before kissing the song’s subject. Now dawn approaches but our narrator wants to live forever “in this wonderland” since he’s come to understand that “the truth just sounds a little bit different when you say it out loud.”
“Now Or Never” starts off as a broadly driving drumbeat adds fresh energy and lush synths dance. I find the way in which Chris Ward’s earnest sax enhances the song deeply pleasing. The sax carries a melody that dreams and yearns below Daniel Hugh’s softly caressing vocals.
The vocal melody mingles longing with more positive sensations. Medium-high synth accents the song as a bubbling sound adds relaxing contrast. Leaping percussion adds drive underneath the well-performed, heartfelt vocals.
Aching emotion combines with energetic vibes as Daniel Hugh’s voice soars out, catching the meaning in the lyrics. Now shimmering synth slowly revolves above the drums and bass. Chris Ward's sax solo wanders, full of reedy and satisfying warmth as the bursting, flying drumbeat propels the track forward.
This tale begins with the song’s main character wondering how he ended up where he is in life. He asks himself if he’s lived a life “base on someone else’s dreams” or pushed aside the feeling that he’s meant to do more. The storyteller poses a question about whether or not “when you’re halfway done and there’s less to come” the courage to run will be there.
Our main character didn’t think he’d wind up feeling as he does, he woke up and realized that “he'd become the very thing he'd always hated” but felt paralyzed by the notion of change. The narrator points out that “it’s never the right time” but questions “if not now, then when?” He adds that one should just go forward as there’s “always a reason to say no.”
The song’s subject had questioned himself about his readiness for change, but only now has he questioned “the assumption that he ever made a choice to live this way.” Again the storyteller asks the question about daring to run, reminding everyone that the moment must be seized. Questions about “too much to lose” and “is it too late to make a break” are answered at the end with “just let go.”
After a quick flashing echo, bell-like, resonant synths flow to kick off "Any Excuse.” Daniel Hugh’s rich, resonant voice carries a tender melody as bass blocks shift with dense power. The vocals tremble and cascade together as bell-like notes flicker.
The drums add forward motion with their loping pattern and Daniel Hugh’s voice captures affection in its smooth tones. Gleaming, bell-like notes sparkle as digital-sounding synth carries a hopeful melody. The song drifts into silken, enfolding synth chords as metallic, glowing synth flares and bass adds a surging, elastic feel to the song.
Our narrator addresses another person and tells them that they’re making him feel like he’s losing control and that they make him question his beliefs. There’s a sense of new beginnings as he says he’s looking for excuses to “be alone with you, just to talk to you once.”
The storyteller says that when he isn’t wth the other person, he hopes “beyond hope” that they are thinking about him because he’s thinking of them and “how I'll get you to fall for me too.”He admits that he might be seeing what he hopes is there when their eyes meet. He muses, “Does a stolen glance mean I have a chance? Or are you just toying with me?”
“Powerless” opens as gigantic, retro-sounding drums form an energetic beat. Intensely shiny, tapping notes move with climbing organ-like notes. Daniel Hugh’s all-encompassing vocal performance has a gentling quality that touches me. The vocal melody creates wistful yearning as it unfolds.
Undulating bass and leaping drums support the positive-feeling chorus as rippling, elevated synth arpeggios dances. Clean light pours from the arpeggios as Daniel Hugh’s voice emotes with conviction.
Bursting drums guide the sparkling arpeggios before Daniel Hugh’s voice moves with steadily glistening notes. The vocals vault upward and after a fading segment, the chorus ends the song with a joyous sense of freedom.
In this song, the narrator says he tried to argue “but I had no voice” and adds that he gave up on the idea of having a choice. He goes on to say that he had to let the other person know that “I couldn't get you out of my head” or leave to never see them again.
In the chorus, our storyteller asks the song’s subject to take his hand and “lead me to your promised land.” He points out that he’s a fool for the other person and that “there’s nothing I wouldn't sacrifice for you.” He adds that if the other person says they need him, he’ll run to them. He adds that he’s got to prove himself worthy of their love because “I know it now, I'll never give up.”
Our narrator concludes by saying that at one point in time, he’d made a “choice to leave it all behind” and if the other person doesn’t take him, “it might break me” so he asks them if they’ll “end this misery.”
Rapidly flickering arpeggios join growling bass and Daniel Hugh’s voice is full of deeply felt emotion as Into The Darkness” begins. Broadly bright synth pulses as the music ramps up in, growing in strength. Daniel Hugh’s vocals arc upward and drums rush forward along with quickly throbbing bass. I am drawn to the forceful bass power in this song.
Daniel Hugh’s vocals are aching and expectant, the melody they carry tinged with pain and potential. Arpeggios shimmer above heavy bass and the Daniel Hugh’s voice captures possibility and a hint of worry. This music surges along with lambent shine as slowly oscillating bass keeps up an undeniable heartbeat.
The singer queries the song’s subject, “If I ask you, will you take a chance?” He asks that person if they will take a “leap of faith” and follow him “into the darkness.” He exhorts the other person to start again and leave the world they know behind, to help build “the world we want around us.” He inquires if the other person will go on an adventure with him, asking if they can “bear to say goodbye and vanish over the horizon.”
Our narrator asks the other person if they’re scared because he admits that he is. He says that because nothing is decided, “there’s nothing we can’t do.” In spite of their fears, he asks the other person to take his hand because “it starts today and we're ripping up the plan.” Once more, he asks if the other person is afraid and points out that he’s also afraid but “the thing that really scares me is the thought of losing you.”
“Outro” starts as a piano rings out, beautifully mingling soothing and hurting emotion. Quickly pulsing bass rushes and medium-high, gleaming synth chords flare as the bass becomes more powerful.
Wide-sounding percussion adds more weight to the track as the bright notes flash. The piano carries a melody that is encouraging and a little heartbroken as the glimmering synth arpeggios tremble and the drums and piano fade into silence.
Conclusion
Now Or Never radiates a sene of honest, deeply felt emotion along with moments of melancholy to leaven it. The interwoven synths, Daniel Hugh’s vocals and the overall sonic atmosphere come together to form a pleasing whole.
