‘Harmony House’ is sure to outperform his debut, both critically and commercially
Dayglow’s previous effort was released in November of 2019.
21-year-old Sloan Stuble, who’s better known as Dayglow, has had quite an impressive run since his debut album. After the release of Fuzzybrain, the artist saw a handful of breakout hits come from the LP, including the viral hits “Can I Call You Tonight?” and “Hot Rod.”
After having just passed over six million monthly listeners on Spotify, Dayglow is back with his long-anticipated sophomore album, Harmony House. Influences of the ‘70s and ‘80s soft rock are scattered across the album, just evident enough to know that he was attracted to the era during the creation of his sophomore comeback.
Much of the album continues similar themes of growth, change, and coping as many of us, including Stuble himself, enter adulthood. These should come as no surprise for those that are aware of the musician’s commitment to music, as he recently dropped out of college to pursue his music career completely.
The album, which consists of a brisk 11 songs, includes both pre-release single hits, as well as a few new tracks that would be a shame to be looked past. Standout tracks include “Crying on the Dancefloor,” “Woah Man,” “Moving Out,” and the pre-release smash “Close To You.”
Dayglow, once again, manages to thrive when by himself, as he’s credited for the majority of the album’s lyrics and production. On the opening track, “Something,” it’s evident that Stuble has yet to lose his touch for instrumentals, as the opening chords are powerful enough to make a person’s bones tingle.
On the previously released hit, “Close To You,” Dayglow continues to shine for lyrics that ride a line between extremely personal and endlessly relatable. Stuble sings on the track, “What good is love without any strings? // held it above, stuck in between // tell me for once what that even means // I want to know you, but can’t make it right.”
With powerful instrumentals, touching lyrics, and continuing to maintain the upbeat feel of his first album, Dayglow has created a worthy follow-up to a classic soft rock debut. Harmony House may not offer as many new tracks as fans were hoping for, but what they received is better than anything they could have expected.
Harmony House is due out May 21.
Review: 4.5/5