LOOSE MUSIC 20th March 2026
Over the last twenty years or so I feel like I’ve heard Danny George Wilson grow and develop. I’d missed Grand Drive, the band he had with his brother but since them his solo project, Danny and the Champions Of The World has grown from being tagged as an East End E-Street Band. Early on, they were full of anthems about cars and girls (and why not), adding paeans to touring and living large and rough. A great live alt-country act, he took a pause from 2017 after a decade, returning in 2021 with ‘Another Place’, a collaboration with Hamish Benjamin instead of the usual Champs band. A couple of years ago we had a Champs album and tour, ‘You Are Not A Stranger Here’. He’s mellowed like a good bottle of red, ditching the raucous anthems for thoughtful reflections on his life and songs about friendships and love that have different tones as we age.
This is the third of the ‘mature Danny’ albums and it is a romantic collection, one of consideration, crooning, memories and hope. He says: “The songs are about the ways we deal with losing people, time, place, or don’t deal with it… Looking back, we discover what was always there, or things that are just easier to ignore – different and contradictory perspectives.” There are strings and mellotron alongside the traditional guitar and piano. He’s returned to work with Hamish Benjamin, who has brought a different perspective to bear, with less ‘Neckerchief Rock’ and more arrangements with non-traditional sounds. The music is still dominated by Danny’s acoustic strum but the lyrics are illustrated with bursts of electronic sounds, string quartet or solo piano.
Songs like ‘Before September’ are full of passion and feeling, while adding a wistful mistiness to his thoughts. Life felt like hazy days and the nostalgia feels like misty sunshine. The mood is reflective but the sounds move between comforting and unexpected. ‘Masquerade’ has sounds like a wasp trapped under a glass, that keep the ears pricked up, while ‘I’m Lost’ combines a lilting chorus, smooth strings and a set of rattling sounds that bring Bjork to mind. The nicely ringing guitar lick of ‘Grain Of Sand’ helps it hold a completely different Neil Young ‘Harvest Moon’ vibe.
The title track is the biggie of the set with an insistent beat and a good spot to start if you want the ‘normal’ Danny and the Champions sound though, it too, is topped with a peculiar rising electronic line in the chorus. Equally, ‘Golden Decay’ has the mood summed up – the dreams of youth still shine but, looking back, they are replaced with a golden decay.
I do miss the big raucous choruses of the earlier versions of Danny and the Champions Of The World but that’s nostalgia – a pleasant occasional indulgence but no substitute for enjoying time as it passes, our selves as they shift with age and our favourite artists as they grow.
Ross McGibbon
Other reviews of Danny & the Champions of the World
https://www.vanguard-online.co.uk/danny-the-champions-of-the-world-what-kind-of-love/