Review of Goldbug's debut album 'Swings & Roundabouts'

Goldbug's nine track debut album Swings & Roundabouts is out now. We asked Jonah Hoy to review.

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When I think of summer, I think of how the trees glow among the sun's rays and how every little branch sways delicately in the breeze. Each shake lifts the leaves, and they become carbon copies of one another, like the bristles of a drum brush against a snare, making that little tss, tss, tss.

Lying in the grass, embracing the calm, with sweet water washing up on the shores of one's mind; the tranquil little loops playing while each thought swishes side to side remind me of Goldbug's debut album, Swings & Roundabouts.

Goldbug, aka Danilo Ward, is a member of the band of all living things. He grew up as a third-culture kid because his father is Irish-Canadian and his mother is Swiss. They raised him in the south of France, and he has now relocated to Dublin. A nomad, never feeling strongly attached to one place or country, he is a mishmash of so many things that makes this debut oh so powerful.

The songs feel like a warm rush of wind in the summer sun; you can see the rays when you close your eyes, which mimic Goldbug's hair, too. It moves like water and is so sweetly melancholy, a perfect representation of the world we're living in: twisted in too many ways. Swings & Roundabouts feels like what would happen if Elliott Smith got really into prog rock: all those tiny, tiptoeing sounds from his acoustic guitar mixed with slight distortion. His vocals call like an angel weaving prophecies, but instead of offering answers, he's asking more questions about our silly little life.

You can feel the nooks and crannies the instruments try to fill. They take you on twists and turns, peeking behind corners only our leader knows. Each song is its own waterfall, and the rocks are so unique that the water fills each one differently.

Goldbug's lyrics have almost a Rodney Dangerfield quality to them, where he's quick and concise with what he expresses. Like in Junk Start: "No one will listen, I keep it all hidden." Lyrics like these pair well with his horn section. In the Bible, you think of angels and their trumpets as symbols of glory. All is saved, and while it doesn't feel dangerous, there's still this little anxiety lingering behind it.

"To break a spell and save myself," from Will-O'-The-Wisp, does a very good job of using silence to make the song feel more powerful. There are chimes and hums in the atmosphere at different moments, as if an anglerfish were scouring the bottom of the sea and using its light at just the right moment.

Every song feels like walking barefoot. We can touch the grass but we can also walk over the pebbles in the alley to cross the street to the sidewalk. It's this free, ever-changing route, like visiting your hometown again and going for a walk. You're not on a specific journey just going wherever your toes take you.

If you've ever heard Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People, you're familiar with music that sounds light and airy while the lyrics tell a different story. Most songs on Swings & Roundabouts sound sweet, but Goldbug's haunting lyrics are odes to existential wandering, yearning to find a place where he can fit in.

The best song on the album is Pendulum. Those creeping silences and sharp corner turns are represented perfectly here. It's a jazzy, sad ballad that's like one of those chocolate bars filled with tiny air bubbles - smooth, creamy, and impossibly light. The jazziness of the song adds so much to his existential yearning. The slow pace and piano keys let you fall into his journey. His imagery feels fluid and ambiguous, like the pendulum he's swinging on throughout the song.

I would give Swings & Roundabouts an 8.5 out of 10 for its composition and beautiful sound. Goldbug encompasses what I feel about summer evenings. They're nice, and all the warm glow comes crashing in, but even in a tranquil, picturesque little world that looks like everything is perfect, beneath the surface of that bliss is chaos and a yearning for something we have yet to grasp.

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