Get “Familiar” with Daniel Monte
Last month, at the recommendation of a friend, I went to see the album release show of an emerging Toronto artist. The George Ignatieff Theatre at the University of Toronto (which I’d been to many times before for piano competitions), was packed with people of all ages eager for Daniel Monte and his band to hit the stage.
In short, it was one of the best concerts I’d been to in a while; the production and flow of the show were planned perfectly and he brought his audience deep into his music. The fluidity with which he switches between the keyboard, violin and guitar is worthy of recognition. Truly, Daniel Monte creates rock music for non-rock music listeners.
Although his sound is not anything revelatory, he writes electrifying songs that focus on his personal life experiences. The 14-track album, Familiar, is a compilation of almost three years of work and you can really hear how his sound has evolved.
The album opens with the title track, “Familiar”, a rich orchestration of strings, electric guitars and synths. In my opinion, it’s a genius opening track that announces the arrival of his long-awaited album.
One of my favourites was “Not the Last Goodbye”, a touching piano ballad about a soldier overseas at war. In the last verse, he revisits the first verse from the wife’s perspective. It’s not common to see a man writing from a female perspective but Monte pulls it off with such grace and sentiment.
In many of Monte’s songs, he plays with combining different genres such as rock, folk and classical music. For example, “Sent From the Devil” sounds like something straight out of a musical. It opens with perpetuating chords in the piano and a wailing violin solo before his low voice begins:
“I look to the garden of Eden, Slithered in the bright temptation.”
“Out of Ten” was a triumphant mesh of all the elements in the album. It begins with a sorrowful melody on the violin before he sings, “Nine times out of ten, you look around and see love less than evil.” Each verse builds into a grand climax at the chorus, which plays into the expectations of the listener. But near the three-minute mark, just when you think the song is over, he comes back again with the chorus with an impactful guitar solo followed by a swirling violin solo.
I liked the way he included instrumental tracks such as “Ambience” and “Good Dreamer” to bridge songs together, which made the overall work feel more cohesive. In both tracks, he shows off his skills as a classically-trained violinist and pianist as well as his excellent grasp on chordal harmony.
However, one track that I wasn’t a huge fan of was “Don’t Look Back.” It felt too much like something that’s been done before by legendary rock bands such as Guns n’ Roses or AC/DC. The song begins quietly with just piano and vocals before bursting into an explosion of sound and power. It felt more nostalgic than refreshing for me.
The album’s anticlimactic ending completely changes the mood and sounds like a temporary goodbye. “Maybe” dives into the classic love story narrative. In the song, Monte sings to a girl and asks her to “show [him] the way”, perhaps into her heart. He moves away from his low, baritone register and uses more of his high vocal range which is nice to hear for a change. The song is cute and playful, coloured with plucked guitar chords and legato strings.
Daniel Monte is one Toronto artist to watch. He definitely has the potential to make it big with his captivating live shows and drive to make music that is true to himself.
Listen to Daniel Monte’s album, Familiar, here:
