Daniel Kiffie is a British artist who has made emotion more than perfection his trademark. Primarily electro-pop, with influences spanning in various directions, Kiffie started from scratch and in just a few years filled with dreams, dedication, and music full of powerful and often socially relevant messages. His music is now aired nationally on BBC.
He’s an artist who challenges the standards of the modern music world by following his path, unwavering and without doubts, and therefore deserves to be listened to.
Today, we’re talking about his album: “A Sense of Unease.”
Luca's Take
I’ve always felt a great fondness mixed with admiration for Kiffie as an artist: it’s not easy these days to come across people who don’t care about the standards, rules, or the snobs who judge them from their imagined small thrones made of money and promotional success… and chart their path based on what they decide is important.
Kiffie is one of these individuals, and for him, music is pure expression: expression of his inner world, expression of thoughts about what’s happening around him.
There are few people like this. Few but extremely valuable. Some, such as Danswell & The Symptoms, already reviewed on this site, and I’m delighted to add Kiffie to that list.
His latest album, “A Sense of Unease,” continues to be produced in full Kiffie style, putting the soul ahead of technical perfection but having its peculiarities that make it unique.
For example, I couldn’t describe my surprise while listening to “All Yours,” complete with a rap vocal line by Voyage, certainly not something ordinary.
“This album represents a culmination, an end, a new beginning,” writes Daniel, and indeed, that’s somewhat the feeling you can perceive while listening to the notes, the lyrics, the emotions permeating this work from beginning to end.
It’s as if after these years of music, Kiffie has reached a point where everything he had inside, his world, his thoughts, has been revealed, as if almost everything had been said. While the world entwines itself, repeating the same mistakes as always (perhaps intensifying them), there’s not much else to say except to watch it, with a bit of detachment, a touch of melancholy, because all that could have been done has been done.
The image that comes to mind for much of the album is that of someone who, from a distance, after putting in the effort and giving everything, now watches the world burn by its own will. A tear streaks the face, melancholic, yet hoping that after the destruction, something better may rise again.
Luca's favourite track
I hope Daniel won’t mind if, amidst a full album of songs, my favorite was the only one without vocal lines.
I intensely adored the emotion in “Goodbye at Last,” primarily composed on the piano.
A simple, emotional, profound piece that perhaps, due to its difference from the rest of the productions, struck me so deeply.
Alex's Take
This album strikes a deep chord with its slow melodies. Although some tracks are quite upbeat, they remain consistent with the overall emotional tone of the album, allowing for a profound, emotional immersion that creates an empathic connection with the songs’ emotionally dramatic experiences.
The lyrics reflect feelings like loneliness, loss, and troubled love, managing to touch the soul of the listener. But they wouldn’t be able to evoke these emotions without the voice of the singer.
Kiffie, in a way as sublime as honey, manages to convey emotional pain and melancholy through melodies and a voice that seems almost Gregorian/Ecclesiastical/Orthodox, creating an ethereal atmosphere where every word awakens empathy.
I must say that, despite having listened to a lot of “sad goth lullaby” music in the past, no album has managed to make me feel a lump in my throat and cry at every track due to the depth of thought and emotion in the lyrics. This, for me, demonstrates the skill of the artist in creating and conveying very strong emotions.
Alex's Favourite Song
My favorite track?
It’s a difficult choice when I appreciate each one melodically. Thus, the selection comes down to the lyrics, and the one that surprises me the most is “Learning to Sing“: a sad lullaby accompanied by the gentle notes of the piano with lyrics that paint a sentimentally sorrowful scene, of loss, but ending with a sweet reunion.
Despite the chorus and the positive conclusion, I couldn’t help but feel sadness for the solitude and the emotion associated with loss, from the highly poetic lyrics to the vocals, like a solemn chant that evokes both sad and beautiful memories.
Conclusion
“A Sense of Unease” by “Kiffie” is an album whose sounds evoke emotions that triumph over technicalities. Emotional, powerful, and profound. Definitely an experience to be lived firsthand.
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All the best,
Luca & Alex
