BEST NEW TRACKS: DANNY SUNSHINE - NEVER THOUGHT

6/4/17

PC Music round out their Month Of Mayhew with “Never Thought” - a bouncy, fizzy, tropical house banger from Danny Sunshine.

 

DANNY SUNSHINE - NEVER THOUGHT

Danny L. Harle, the British producer behind Danny Sunshine, is expert at lacing euphoric, giddy Pop Music with just enough acerbic experimentalism to keep things interesting. As a producer, Harle’s worked with some of Pop’s most cutting-edge and forward-looking innovators, most notably Charli XCX on this year’s “ILY2”, off of XCX’s Number One Angel mixtape, while his personal music, both as Danny Sunshine and as a member of Dux Content, alongside PC Music labelhead A. G. Cook, blends primary colored plasticene synths; cutesy vocals; post-Grime beats, with a ‘90s rave ecstatic euphoria.

PC Music is one of the best known purveyors of Pop EDM, blending kawaii culture - with J-pop/k-pop vocals and infectious melodies. It’s electronica for kids growing up with DDR instead of experiencing the ‘90s raves they’re referencing. PC Music tends to be more anime theme song than a dubplate, as you’re unlikely to hear these tunes in any kind of real underground dance party. That could change, however, if “Never Thought” is any indication.

Danny Sunshine’s most recent single - his second, in 2017 - corrects many of the mis-steps common to many PC Music productions. The vocals, while as poppy and as memorable as anything from the anonymous crew of producers, dial down the chipmunks-on-helium and speed of the earliest PC Music productions, from the likes of Sophie and GFOTY. The beats are solid and thumping, yet have less of a generic ‘appy ‘ardcore vibe - the kicks sound like they could be lifted off of a knackered balearic house mixtape, which is to say, it sounds like actual dance music that people actually listen to, rather than some sort of postmodern bedroom pisstake. Sunshine’s rubbery bassline is funky and infectious, turning down the synthetic cheese a notch. “Never Thought” also builds and climaxes in a satisfactory manner, tickling even the most MDMA-burned synapses.

“Never Thought” is a perfect bubbly pop EDM track for the early days of summer, as well as being a pleasant bout of escapism, as our world crashes, burns, and chokes on coal fumes. Like most of PC Music’s back catalog, “Never Thought” still sounds like the imagining of ‘90s rave for people who weren’t actually there. For all of the retro revivalists out there, let us here at We Are: The Guard remind you that a lot of the electronic music from the ‘80s/’90s was absolute garbage, and recommend caution when indiscriminately lifting from the past. While we applaud the attempt to reclaim synth presets and simple electro beats, realizing that sometimes less-is-more and often, great art can be made with simple means, when you have something distinctive to say. That being said, PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY stop trying to revitalize the sax solo and house pianos! Thankfully, neither are present on “Never Thought.” Harle’s operating at a higher taste level than many of his PC Music cohorts. Hopefully it marks a turning point for the popular underground label, allowing them to continue both mocking and impacting mainstream Pop Culture.