D.L. Byron brings audiences the raw energy of authentic rock and roll with a side twist of thoughtful songwriting on the EP Satori. No 1 God kicks it all off and feels equally familiar and unheard of before. The leading voice has a certain mildly operatic tone about it – there’s volume and passion, but still it seems delicate, particularly in among the chaos and vibrancy of the drums and the surrounding soundscape. The lyrics really provoke thought in a way that hard hitting, energetic rock doesn’t seem to have done for quite some time. The concept is unusual and the music has a certain uniqueness about to, making this a strong way to start the project.
Rehearsing For The Future mellows things out a little, not too much so but there’s a soft rock level of emotion to the chord progression and a certain weight to the bass and the distortion. The melody is totally unique as well, it draws you in with its vaguely structured, meandering verse lines, all of which lead up towards a satisfying hook section that feels like an easy hit from some time ago. Once again, the songwriting is fascinating, the concepts offered by the titles alone incite intrigue and capture your attention, then the verses seek to further feed that beast and explore the ideas in a more open but still fairly mysterious manner. This conversation with myself is where it connects, you attach it to your own life, your own day, and the colourful, hopeful riffs that accompany it give off an uplifting level of energy. A personal highlight, a great alternative rock song.
All Fall Down takes things in an Americana-like direction. A joyful, 60s style melody erupts, poetic references to prophecies and history and additionally the self – it all crafts around you a lyrically full and melodically optimistic anthem that attempts to connect the individual with the world around them. It works, you think more about things. The middle-8 makes the song more artist focused for a moment – letting you get a little closer to the man behind the music, making this less an attack on your own consideration (or lack of) and more a personal outpouring of ideas and inner truths. It’s a good song, worth listening to a few times over to really take it all in.
Things finish up with the rhythmically bright Everywhere I Go, a song with a simple yet effective hook and a certain melodic evolution that gradually shines brighter and more interesting as things progress. Byron has a way with lyricism that seems to at first feel fairly run-of-the-mill, and that later explodes into something unexpected and provocative. There’s always some idea or reference that takes you back a little, maybe even gets you pausing the song and playing it over once more. At the same time, the musical set-up and use of melody is easy to have play around you – you’d put it on for the gathering, the garden party; the energy is joyful, from a musical perspective, and that slightly vintage, acoustic rock and roll sound has something beautifully nostalgic about it.
This project is undoubtedly about the songwriting, that’s what stands the tallest, but the leading voice as well brings something fresh to the mix. It’s a strong collection that will likely be enjoyed by fans spanning from the Eagles to the more modern day indie-rock bands of not too long ago. A lot goes on within the space of these four songs.
