From mournful to Mosey

Daniel Romano is a musician, poet, and visual artist. He is also one of Canada’s most prolific talents, rolling out albums that continue to test the limits of the genres he inhabits. The former Attack in Black singer and songwriter has covered a lot of ground in the last few years. In 2010’s Workin’ For the Music Man and 2011’s Sleep Beneath the Willow, Romano has taken on folk and country, blending achy twang with inviting prose, while breathing new life into old styles. In 2013’s Come Cry With Me Romano’s love for Country icon George Jones shines through. This album mixes humor, sarcasm, and sentimentality with a seamless intent that shows his mastery over the self-reflective melancholy that country music does best.

In 2016, Romano released his rock album Mosey, a fitting title for the transient troubadour. The album diverts slightly from his most recent work, but still draws on the musical stylings of the past. Mosey evokes sonic sixties influences with its horns and drum beats, and veers away from the honky-tonk world Come Cry With Me inhabited. There is a grandiose element upped by the haunting tremor of Romano’s voice. Interestingly, Mosey was released simultaneously with Romano’s surprise punk album Ancient Shapes. It seems clear that we can expect Daniel Romano to continue to push boundaries and surprise his audience, taking on new roles and inhabiting new ambitious spaces with exciting results.