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Davey La: Rotten in Denmark
Posted on 04.11.08 by Jeff Giles @ 11:45 am
Listening to an EP is usually a lot like dating a Mormon – no matter how much fun the thing is, just when you’re getting warmed up, it’s all over before you get to the payoff. But Rotten in Denmark, the solo debut from Davey La, former lead singer of the Ambershades (you’ve never heard of them, which is probably the main reason why Davey’s solo and some of his ex-bandmates are schlepping the globe with James Blunt), is more like a trial-size bag of Skittles – there’s a whole rainbow of bright pop flavors in here, but the portion size is small enough to keep you from gorging yourself on the sweetness (and, more importantly, to keep Davey La from tossing in a few clunkers to harsh your buzz). There’s nothing rotten (or appreciably Danish) about it, but fans of driving, guitar-based, hook-filled pop music will be too busy eating this up with a spoon to care. Davey’s got a perfectly elastic voice, a way with a hook, and his tongue planted firmly in his cheek; there’s no way in hell he’ll manage to keep up this kind of glorious momentum over a full-length LP, but no matter – we’ll always have Denmark.
- ESDMusic.com
Discography
Debut E.P. "Rotten In Denmark" released 2008; album to follow
Photos
Bio
Manhattan-dwelling rocker Davey La caught the music bug at an early age from his professional jazz musician father and from a wide array of artists including Sly and the Family Stone, The Beatles, Billy Joel, Elton John, Yellow Magic Orchestra and David Sylvian. In 2001, after a stint producing and engineering at Alaska Studios in London’s Waterloo, Davey La and his friend/co-worker Ben Castle grew tired of making music for other people and decided to form their own band. With Davey on lead vocals and Ben on guitar, they joined their mates to complete the power-pop five-piece, Ambershades.
Ambershades’ self-released album Clap Clap Clap spawned three indie top twenty hits (title track, “8th Day” and “My Darling”) which generated enormous praise from both the UK media and fans alike. “My Darling” won the coveted single of the week slot in NME who called the band “unstoppable” and said that their songs were “beautiful, optimistic, alluring and unashamedly uplifting.” Glamour (UK) and Uncut Magazine gave the album sparkling reviews, with Glamour also noting that La’s songs “showcased amazing vocals.” Unfortunately, despite the growing buzz, fame and fortune were not in the cards for Ambershades and the band soon parted ways, with some members joining international singing sensation James Blunt on tour.
With a clear vision as how he wanted to carry on his post-Ambershades musical career, Davey headed to Portland, Oregon armed with a bevy of ideas to work alongside The Dandy Warhols’ Courtney Taylor-Taylor. Davey La’s sophisticated songwriting skills, combined with Taylor in the co-producer’s seat, results in the infectious first single and title track “Rotten In Denmark.” This track delivers an intense mix of classic rock, dark lyrics, crunching guitars, driving piano hooks and an undeniable upbeat tempo. Other standout tracks include “Ichi Ni San Shi, Go!” which highlights an impressive falsetto while maintaining rich raspy vocals, the soulful ballad “Fires” and a live version of “Don't Let Me Down,” which provides an excellent showcase for the true power and range of Davey La’s singing.
In addition to his vocal skills, Davey is a fine songwriter and producer. In April 2008 Davey was named a winner of the International Songwriting Competition for his song Fires. Around that time Davey was commissioned to write and produce the title track for Chicago Overcoat, a feature film starring the Sopranos’ Frank Vincent.
In July 2008 Davey was chosen by the editors of Billboard Magazine as one of six finalists in the Disc Makers Independent Music World Series, from a field of over 2,000 entrants.
Davey is currently in the studio finishing a full album, and will be performing in and around New York.
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