Search - Dala :: Who Do You Think You Are?

Overlooked and gorgeous music

Cloud | Canada | 03/02/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"No longer burdened by the random playability a single can get either on radio or television, any musician/band can just set up a website such as on Myspace and let people discover the music on their own. However, this makes them relatively obscure to the point where really good music becomes even harder to find since anyone can pick up a guitar or sit at a piano, set up a website and sing... or at least try to. Which is what makes Dala (Sheila Carabine, redhead and Amanda Walther, blonde) so welcoming since not only can they sing but they can actually write catchy, even beautiful melodies.



The album starts out with the title track, which is a more subdued opener with the strong vocals, sparse but effective use of sound and gives the album a different tone that concentrates on depth as opposed to fun loving pop melodies and that's it. Then comes first single "Anywhere Under the Moon" with la-la-la's, an upbeat melody though like most first singles, it's good but there's better. That comes with "Marilyn Monroe" which would be a perfect pop single if only radio would actually play it. With catchy melodies, vocals and a fun atmosphere, who wouldn't want to sing along to this in their car?



Then we come to what's probably my favorite of the album, "Hockey Sweater" is probably one of the most gorgeous and almost heartbreaking sounding acoustic ballads I've heard lately. While I don't want to oversell it, you can just feel how emotive the song is from how they sing it, the minimilist use of background instruments and a gorgeous bridge ("4 corners to my bed..."), this is a must-hear track from the album. After a track like that, any of them just seem lesser for some reason but luckily the next 2 tracks are just as good and maintain the album's consistency. In fact, I like the second half the more I listen to it.



"Don't Wait" continues what the last tracks had with energetic beats and poppy melodies. Only weak link I found in the second half is "Perfect Photo" which doesn't really do anything wrong but its melodies seem a bit more obvious-so than in previous tracks; it sounds more like a carefully structured pop song than sounding more spontaneous. The album ends with the ballad "Don't Believe the Actress" which sounds a bit more intimate than the title track did with piano taking the center stage and while not as poppy as other tracks, it's just as listenable as anything on here.



I don't want to hype this up as one of the best indie pop releases nobody bought...even though you can argue that's exactly what it is but it's so refreshing to see artists that feel real yet know a beautiful voice and guitar skills don't always translate to memorable songs and luckily, this album has them in spades.



"

Catchy, insightful, sounds good

Bockway | WV USA | 12/10/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album seems to continue the catchy contemporary folk sounds of their exceptional first effort. Several songs really shine. Great harmonies and thoughtful arrangements. This singer-songwriter duet is very talented and their music really grows on you. Only a couple of weaker songs out of the eleven on the CD. I just hope they keep writing and recording."

Dala should be better known!

Sam Pick | Berea, OH | 12/01/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Wonderful voices, terrific chemistry, beautiful songs; why doesn't anyone know about these two? I discovered them on a cover album doing OHIO. It took some work to find them, but it was well worth it. I look forward to more albums in the future."