Album Review: Dan Brodie - Deep Deep Love

While not particularly prolific, Dan Brodie has certainly been one of the Melbourne music scene's quietest achievers. His latest album, Deep Deep Love, sees Brodie gather songs he has written over the course of the past 15 years that happen to have one common theme. His previous record may have been dedicated to his abrasive side, but he has never been one to shy away from heart-on-sleeve songwriting, and this new album serves as an almost perfect vehicle for his talent in that department.

Starting with what could be considered the title track, (We Gotta) Deep Deep Love, Brodie brazenly dives head first into the topic at hand, stating “It's cold outside our window/but warm inside our bed/they can go out dancing/we'll stay home instead”. While such a sentiment sets the mood, it isn't until Tear Us Down that you get to hear Brodie at his best. He has an incredible ability to tap into a vein that pulls directly at the listener's heartstrings, and when he gets that right, he is as good as any of Australia's most lauded troubadours. Fallen Down Again and With Hollow Eyes are further examples of this. These songs are fairly simple, but this works in Brodie's favour as it allows his knack of writing honest, powerful lyrics and melodies to shine.

The idea of a concept album about love may seem filled with potentially cringe-worthy moments, yet Brodie has managed to pull together a collection of songs that are honest, and while it could be argued that this isn't a technically perfect album, it's actually that lack of perfection that helps makes Deep Deep Love so charming.