Album Review: Leopold And His Fiction Show You Can Be Your Own “Darling Destroyer”
Sometimes, you feel “twisted”. Maybe, you feel “crazy” or you feel like a nail being jammed and turned to fit in a hole that is not quite right. Yes, I know that I often speak in parables, metaphors, and any type of figurative lingo to make a point, but Leopold And His Fiction share a similar mindset: rhetoric is pacific. In others words, what you say can bring ease to either yourself or another, but “ease” does not need to come in an obvious or even gentle format. Enter Leopold And His Fiction’s new album, Darling Destroyer, to show you that embracing your madness might be the only way to gain calmness.
Leopold and His Fiction – I’m Caving In
I’m Caving In
Blistering, blazing, and booming are just a few of the words to describe Darling Destroyer’s sound. This record is LOUD like a door being busted through with an iron rod. That iron rod comes in the form of guitar arrangements that sound like they are being made to bleed music. This may be a dark reference, but this album sounds heavy for the enlightenment it brings. For lead singer/ songwriter Daniel Leopold, as a creative, he has lived a life where he needed to find his self-value against the ones constantly placed upon him. Let’s be honest; the music industry can run on images as much as it does on sonics, but, for Leopold And His Fiction, their mission is to show that how you see yourself is truly the only thing that matters. Yet, they do not say or play said message in a “sappy”, tearful way. This band want you to feel alive in this truth not as lesson to be learned but one to be shared. This means they are going to punch their drums in honor of every hit they have received in life, boldly strike their guitars as a riffing response to every insult they have been thrown, and write every lyrical word like personal letters to both their lovers and haters. For Leopold And His Fiction, vulnerability is honesty, which means that the truth can have many emotional layers to one set reality, Hence, for all their vast arrangements and lyrics, they rely on the genuineness of David Leopold’s voice to emote that if you cannot change yourself to please others then find how loving yourself will change others.
Its a weird thing to see how your surroundings change towards you as you change towards yourself. Lyrically, tracks like ” Waves (Golden)”, “Flowers”, “Better Off Alone”, “It’s How I Feel” are some of the best songs of the record because they are all about the scenarios and feelings that occur when you awaken your soul. So often we can feel asleep or unconscious to how we work in our relationships with others and ourselves. Yet, Daniel Leopold writes music that is about taking a mirror to yourself and learning the ticks and tricks you use to cover and fool yourself. Luckily, he has a voice that can mold to the many lessons/virtues you gain when you begin your journey to self-happiness. He can vocally muster a bluesy broken vibe (“Ride”), put a punk-rock pitch (“Cowboy”), or give a delicate country drawl (“Who Am I”). Leopold is like a vocal chameleon and it is admirable to see how he can change his voice enough to where you feel like he is a different singer while still knowing it is him. I know that sounds strange, but the way he plays with his tones and annotations comes off like he is placing a different “character hat” for each track, which means he needs to play his voice according to his new role/song. The result is an album that has songs that can literally be country or rock n’ roll, and play distinctly from the other while sounding from the same artist: Daniel Leopold.
Leopold and His Fiction – It’s How I Feel (Free)
It’s How I Feel
Leopold And His Fiction are a diversely imaginative group. Leopold, himself, has no problem embracing the outlandishness of his spirit or that of others, which explains my note above: embracing madness brings calmness. If you try to fight who you are then you make yourself your own worst enemy; a common adage that Leopold And His Fiction brilliantly show by displaying that the Darling Destroyer of a person could be his or herself. Learn More About Leopold And His Fiction And Buy Darling Destroyer on January 27 Click Here.
