I feel like I've been raving on and on about British-born/Paris-based singer/songwriter/producer Dan Black for YEARS, but really it's only been four years? Ever since I heard his BRILLIANT, never officially released "HYPNTZ" (which ultimately turned into the single "Symphonies") I've been obsessed with Mr. Black, with my obsession coming to a head during the Robyn + Kelis All Hearts Tour in 2010, wherein Black was one of the openers (along with a pre-"Like A G6" famous Far East Movement). Witnessing Black do his thing live was ALL that I needed to see to convince me that this guy was a musician to watch out for. Now, three years after dropping his debut album here in America, Black is BACK with a beautiful new single, "Hearts," which sees a reunion of sorts with All Hearts Tour-mate and Kaleidoscope-lovin', Wanderland dwelling, Tasty Milkshake-slurpin', indie pop DIVA extraordinaire, 'Kelis (Was Here)' who's 2010 album, Flesh Tone, remains one of my favs to this day. Check out "Hearts" below the cut.
The song, which was co-written by Kelis, is complemented by a GORGEOUS Chic & Artistic-directed video, which premiered earlier this week EXCLUSIVELY on mtvU, MTV Buzzworthy and mtvU.com. "Hearts" is the first single, taken from Black's forthcoming sophomore album, [working]titled Do Not Revenge. According to Black;
"Pop music, when it's right, wakes you up for a second. When you hear something and it gets you, it's like 'oh yeah - that's right - I'm alive.' Those fleeting moments are what I'm after."Following the release and promotion of ((un)), that brilliant album featuring flaw-free tracks such as "Yours," "Wonder," "U+Me," "Alone" and of course, "Symphonies" - Black has been somewhat reclusively working on his followup, hiding out in his Parisian studio, tweaking to perfection the upcoming LP, although he did briefly pop out of hiding to tease a new song last year called "RAW," a tie-in with a new ABSOLUT Vodka product. In addition to finishing off his own solo project, Dan Black's turned into a highly sought after collaborator, producing and writing for a bevvy of big names and 'bout to blow new talent like Ryan Tedder (OneRepublic), Kid Cudi, Kelis, Imogen Heap, Bag Raiders, Mikky Ekko, Rozzi Crane and Sophie Deilila.
In the STUNNING video for new single, "Hearts," Black goes to show us that his creativity truly knows no bounds. The production, a collaboration with Parisian designers Chic & Artistic is a "human time lapse film, shot in a single 24-hours," more specifically that's 1 frame every 16 seconds, from 11 in the morning until 11 the following morning. Filmed from atop a roof somewhere in the city of light & love, Black sings and gyrates to the driving beat. When I heard that the song featured guest vocals from Kelis, I automatically assumed that she'd be too busy to appear in the song's video but I was wrong! While Kelis shot her portion from Rome, she does appear throughout the video, though never PHYSICALLY with Black. Her singing face appears on a series of cards, posters, TV monitors, etc. doing her part to help make this video as flawless as can be.
"Hearts" is out June 11th on Ultra Music.
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