Dan Whitehouse
Album: Reaching For A State Of Mind
Label: Tiger Dan
Tracks: 11
Website: http://www.dan-whitehouse.com

"Reaching for a State of Mind" by Dan Whitehouse is a great mix of honest songwriting and briliant pop arrangements. Dan Whitehouse is an extraordinary singer songwriter blessed with a beautiful voice and a very apparent talent as a writer of meaningful lyrics and enchanting sounds. Besides, he seems to embody what he sings about - his performances seem very authentic.

The instrumentalists' extraordinary musicianship on the album is self evident - nothing else has been expected of musicians like Chip Bailey (Duke Special) and Michael Clarke (who also produced the album) as well as Booga (Ezio) or PJ Wright (Fairport Convention) as guests.

The gems of the album to me are the opener "A Dream is floating out to sea", "Something in the Way" and "Chasing Paper". Here Dan Whitehouse's vocals (modulated in one of them) get enough space to create their engaging touch. The instrumentation has been arranged around the vocals carefully and creates an entangling sound. That's great. Chip Bailey's drumming, especially in the first song and in "Chasing Paper", sounds extraordinary.

I must admit, I do prefer Dan Whitehouse's acoustic performances that were predominant on his self titled debut album. We may however look forward to whatever Dan Whitehouse will do next , hoping he will reach the state of his very own mind - that's where he is best.

Dagmar Brudnitzki