David Kui D’Alessio has had an impressive, twenty-year-long career. He first started releasing music with the band Let’s English in 2003, before moving forward as a solo artist – and one with a constantly evolving style. His abilities as a singer-songwriter have seen him receive many accolades, song placements, and acclamations – he was once described as “the Jason Mraz of the Southwest”, due to his popularity in the Arizona music scene from which he emerged. These days D’Alessio lives in New York City, and 2023 sees him release brand new music in the form of a two-track EP entitled Home. We will be taking a look at one of these tunes, the potent, emotional gem, I Dare You.
The track looks back on a troubled time in the singer’s past, spotlighting an abusive relationship that he was in, and capturing the myriad of painful feelings that came with it. I Dare You starts off in a fairly sparse fashion, with its minimalist instrumentation directing attention to the evocative lines of the first verse… “Gave you my heart ‘til it broke / Still you wanna haunt me like a ghost / You rattle your chains to keep me awake / Sharpen your knives to get me to break”.
The vocal is pained but ultimately restrained up until we hear the first chorus. There is a half-bar pause in the music before the chorus, and its lusher textures drop in, delivering a dramatic intensity to the next section. It is here that D’Alessio’s vocal opens up and he lets rip, demonstrating his massive range, and ability to inject emotion into a song. This heavy contrast is a key feature of the song. Dynamism is a critical component of pop music in general, but in the context of I Dare You, it serves to capture the volatility of emotions and moods that we experience when one is placed in a bad situation.
D’Alessio continues to impress with his poignant and spirited songwriting. His voice sounds better than ever on this new EP and the modern-sounding production that it employs puts his music in a new light and sees him enter some new, exciting sonic territories.
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BELOW: Listen to I Dare You and connect with his website and social media platforms. Please support David Kui D’Alessio by visiting him online, and playing, downloading, and/or purchasing his music, or attending a live show! And, as always, thank you for supporting real music!
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