Dan Arborise - Around In Circles

If, unlike the majority of the country, you are not bored of the oh-so-talented and oh-so-sensitive solo male singer/songwriters who keep creeping out of the woodwork, then be sure to check out Dan Arborise's debut album. If however, you can take no more from the James Blunts, James Morrisons and Paolo Nutinis of the world, AROUND IN CIRCLES is probably not an album for you.

Born in the jungles of Borneo to Polish parents, Arborise grew up in South London, which he moved to via Nigeria. He received classical training in both guitar in piano, but later moved on to take up electric guitar.

At this point he joined some friends to form band Playground, who at one point were threatened with the management of Ricky Gervais, who ended up choosing a career in comedy instead. It all started to look good for Playground, and their first UK tour received rave reviews, but life differences saw the band members going off in different directions, at which point Arborise moved to Edinburgh to study Physics. In the stunning Scottish capital Arborise rediscovered acoustic guitar and started writing again.

His years of guitar playing are evident on his debut album, and to be fair to the guy he is pretty damn good at it. So the chances are that if you appreciate acoustic guitar, you’ll really like Arborise’s stuff. Another plus point is the fact that he is not nearly as gushy as James Blunt.

The problem is that as a whole his music is doing nothing new, and that the record sounds all the same all the way through. So if you like your music to have something a bit different about it, this is not for you. Arborise is the sort of artist who would be great to have play your local on a rainy Sunday evening, but who you would be a disappointed by if you had driven the length of the country to get to his gig.

3 Stars – Average, decent album but not amazing

Written for Entertainment Wise Image by Streetwalker