DAN MANGAN – NICE, NICE, VERY NICE
When first hearing the title of this record, one is forced to question the angle of this Canadian singer’s message – is he projecting that this album, his debut full-length, is a very nice record full of lovely songs? Of course this sentiment is laced with some irony; Mangan’s songs are direct and melodramatic, but paint a picture of a strangely world-weary observationist. He has a preoccupation with travel songs – a common thing in male acoustic songwriters. There is an urgency in his vigorous strumming and dusty voice, not unlike Glenn Hansard’s heart-on-sleeve ramblings. The instrumentation is spare and sensitive, woozy organs and pattering drums give his road-trip stories a rollicking feel that makes them all the more likeable for their simplicity. Perhaps the most effective moments are when Mangan stretches his musical phrasing to toy with the listener just a little, and indeed even his guest performers – in the post-argument lullaby The Indie Queens Are Waiting, he randomly hangs lyrics in midair, beckoning for the musicians and Veda Hille to get back on the rails. It’s these rocky moments in his songwriting that mirror real life, and slowly this album starts to make sense in all its bare melodrama.
***1/2
