Daughter Darling - Sweet Shadows

If you can imagine Portishead, with more accsessible vocals, rich harmonies, classical style piano playing, gorgeous string sections and the most amazing beats ever programmed, then you have Daughter Darling. This project is the culmination of 6 years of beat production, the most talented piano, guitar and string players, a world class DJ battle champion and a girl who knew she was going to be a singer since 3 years old. Every song has been carefully crafted into a masterpiece.

Natalie's unique voice provides a strong basis for music that is dark and moody. The title track "Sweet Shadows" deals with her emotions of moving to a big city, feeling alone with only the shadows to guide her as she walks around seeing many "soul-less" people. Voodoo games, is about an ex-boyfriend who can't let go, and uses a voodoo doll to try and continue to keep his violent hold on her from afar. Album Description

I love this album and artist.

Take one part Sarah McLachlan and add one part Portishead, mix and you get Daughter Darling.

This album is calm, downtempo, and relaxed. I would buy the album all over again. Incredible. July 5, 2008

Sarah McLachlan Meets Portishead

Sara McLachlan-esque breathy, ethereal, yet powerful vocals get a trip-hop spin from Daughter Darling, and it's a case of two great tastes that taste great together. DJ Infiniti's non-intrusive scratching raises the group's moody, folkish, Celtic-tinged singing and tunes from the list of Lachlan-wannabes and helps the group stake out territory of its own. However, the album is not so trip-hoppy that I think it would only appeal to fans of that unjustly overlooked subgenre; the voice and piano work are strong enough to carry the album even without the edge Infiniti provides. The album is consistent in quality all the way through, with numerous highlights, and is enjoyable enough to sustain repeated listens. But beware of listening too carefully: the quality of the music exceeds the quality of the lyrics, and you'll start to notice if you concentrate too hard. The best way to listen to this album is to lie back let it wash over you without reflecting on it too much. Let Daughter Darling hypnotize you. You'll get lost in this album and love it. February 27, 2007

Quick P.S.

The first track on Sweet Shadows, Broken Bridge, was also used in the first episode of Bones, Season One - that's how I heard of it, though it took some internet research to track down Daughter Darling - glad I did! January 22, 2007

Sweet Shadows Indeed!

Daughter Darling has missed the trip hop boat by about a decade. Still, the album doesn't seem dated, and being a fan of trip hop, I'm glad to see a group still out there producing original stuff in the genre. Sweet Shadows may actually be one of the better trip hop albums, as in it is more balanced. It's less depressing than Tricky, but less poppy than Olive. It's got a nice combination of dark melodies that are somewhat catchy, while not being over the top in either direction.

The whole album is quite good and coherent. It sets the tone with the opening chords and doesn't waiver too far from that place of calm, subdued and perhaps a bit sad. This type of music always somewhat borders on the sentimental, melodramatic, self-pitying pit fall, but they manage to skilfully hover the rim without falling in. Honestly I was a bit scared when I saw there was a cover of Dust in the Wind on the album, but somehow they pull it off and make you almost forget it was a Kansas song.

This is a great album if you actually enjoy a rainy day every once in a while. It is quite mesmerizing and hypnotic, but then of course it also runs into the danger of being repetitious. Perhaps it depends most upon your mood when you listen to it, as to what form it takes. Either way, it is definitely worth checking out! And just one more thing, the album title Sweet Shadows is perhaps the perfect description for the mood and tone of this album. May 10, 2006

Must Have

I previewed this cd on amazon.com before I purchased it. It is such an AMAZING cd. I never heard of Daughter Darling before the amazon.com recommendation. You need to get this. The entire cd is amazing. April 11, 2006

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