D [Turquoise Vinyl] [Barnes & Noble Exclusive]

by Hall,Daryl

Overview

D, Daryl Hall's first solo album since Laughing Down Crying in 2011, arrived not long after the singer severed his relationship with longtime partner John Oates over a series of business disagreements. The record doesn't feel as clean a break from Daryl Hall & John Oates as Three Hearts in the Happy Ending Machine, the solo album he delivered after the duo's record-breaking reign of the early '80s, but it does share one important thing in common: most of it is written and produced in concert with Dave Stewart, the Eurythmic who helmed much of that 1986 LP. Where Three Hearts in the Happy Ending Machine careened from style to style, D is relatively streamlined, offering nine amiable variations on Hall's signature Philly soul. Alternating between mellow grooves and slow-burning ballads, Hall seems settled, an impression strengthened by the album's curiously undercooked production. Clean and spacious, D feels slickly sealed within its own cocoon; the rhythms percolate but never quite boil, the arrangements are sparse to the point of almost seeming a bit sterile. In this polished context, the slight weathering on Hall's voice helps give the record its warmth. He's the human element on D, tarnishing its smooth surfaces, not so much enlivening the sculpted melodies but giving the music the pulse it needs. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	06/21/2024
Label:	UNITED ARTISTS
UPC:	0196922925818

Tracks

1. The Whole World's Better
2. Too Much Information
3. Can't Say No to You
4. Rather Be a Fool
5. Rainbow Over the Graveyard
6. Not the Way I Thought It Was
7. Walking in Between Raindrops
8. Why You Want to Do That (To My Head)
9. Break It Down to the Real Thing

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Daryl Hall   Primary Artist