Origins is a recurring new music feature that gives an artist the task of digging into the influences behind their latest song.
The new record from Gold Star, Uppers and Downers, has little to do with drugs or even the emotional highs and lows the title could imply. Instead, its name refers to the type of songs collected therein, a range of compositions meant to capture all the various moods music can relate. Recent single “Baby Face”, for example, rolled in with the sort of melancholy that can bring hope, a dark Wurlitzer dream. The latest track from the effort, “Dani’s in Love”, finds itself on the other side of the spectrum.
“Dani’s in Love” is a buoyant love song with a melody that runs straight towards the blissful sun. The song is built on the proud strut of a piano, though not the sort of pride that comes with ego. No, this is a delighted sense of satisfaction, the kind that can only arise when you’re finally able to accept the love that’s being presented to you. That is, after all, where Gold Star’s Marlon Rabenreither took inspiration for the song, as the track is an ode to the real-life Dani.
Take a listen below, and pick up Uppers and Downers on September 7th via Autumn Tone Records.
For more on the inspiration for “Dani’s in Love”, Rabenreither has dug into the track’s Origins — including revealing a bit about Dani herself.
Dani:
The Dani in “Dani’s In Love” refers to my girlfriend Dani Dolinger. The song was written over a few week stretch. It’s about a dark period in my life when we were together, and one night specifically where she quite literally saved my life. The song is a fairly autobiographical rundown of that time. She’s helped me in more ways than she will ever know.
Squeeze — “Up The Junction”:
I heard this song for the first time on the radio stuck in traffic in Los Angeles on the 110 in downtown. I really loved the phrasing and delivery of the lyrics. I was still hashing out “Dani’s In Love” and this tune gave me some direction. I really love this song.
West Adams, Los Angeles, California:
At the time, I was living in a neighborhood in LA called West Adams with the photographer Moni Haworth — the lyrics about “The painted stairs” refers to her dark red painted walkway. I always loved this neighborhood and felt a strong connection to it.
My Friends:
There is a lyric in the song that goes “My friends gave me good advice, they said I should save my life,” and that line in particular is about my friend Carlos Laszlo. He had gone through some similar experiences. He gave me solid advice and told me I had something good going with Dani, and not to throw it all away.
