DAN BAKER RETURNS WITH PAINED YET PASSIONATE SINGLE ‘TAKE THIS ROSE’
"There's a dusky beauty to your voice and your songwriting. Like R.E.M channeled through Tom Waits."
4 / 5 Stars (Tommy Faith, Triple J)
"This song is sad but, also, this is magic."
4.5 / 5 Stars (Nkechi Anele, Triple J)
With his deeply decadent vocals, poetic lyricism and powerfully delivered melodies, North Queensland’s Dan Baker enthrals with his special brand of folk, creating music that is both grounding and transcendent.
Returning with his first release since the well-received debut album ‘Counting Paces in Tortoise Races’ in 2019, Baker delivers heartfelt optimism in the new single ‘Take This Rose’ (out May 7).
Dan Baker has been successfully navigating the music scene since 2015, having supported touring acts including the likes of C.W. Stoneking, The Whitlams, Tia Gostelow and Greta Stanley, as well as playing multiple festivals around Australia.
After receiving the 2019 Australian Roots Music Award for Best Song with ‘Like A Robin’ and earning a place as a finalist for the 2020 Billy Thorpe Scholarship, Baker was set to spend most of 2020 playing at prominent festivals, if not for COVID-19.
Now, Baker is back with ‘Take This Rose’, which envelopes with acoustic folk goodness, the nimble fingerstyle guitar in the airy intro starkly contrasting the earthy depths of Baker’s raw vocals as they emerge. Appearing like sunlight shining through clouds are silky vocal harmonies and floating violins before an uplifting pace brings a chorus bubbling with hopeful urgency. Ebbing and flowing between steady, melancholic verses to quicker, rallying choruses, ‘Take This Rose’ highlights Baker’s dynamic abilities in the folk-scape as he conjures the difficult emotions that arise when loved ones are separated by distance.
Known for placing an emphasis on strong lyrical foundations within his music, Baker wrote ‘Take This Rose’ as a romantic expression of love and promise for commitment during a long-distance relationship. Baker talks about the track:
"'Take This Rose' took a particularly long time to unravel. I don’t recall how it initially came to be but I do remember calling it finished during the first snowfall several Glaswegian winters ago. It describes old love and new love, and the relationship between distance and time contributing to a sense of loss. It was an optimistic attempt to defend against this sense."
Dan Baker’s single ‘Take This Rose’ is out worldwide on Friday, May 7 and is just a taste of plenty more to come throughout the rest of the year.
About 'Take This Rose'
Written and performed by Dan Baker
Produced by Sam Wright and Steve Kempnich
Engineered and Mixed at Airlock Studios
Mastered by King Willy Sound