"Diamonds 'N' The Shadows" Single Gets Some Light!

New Single Out Soon!

By Dar RaPublished 5 years ago • 5 min read

Live Baby!  

Artist Dar.Ra

Single Diamonds N The Shadows

Label: Kusha Deep Music

Release date: Spring 2019

Dar.Ra, the music producer and author, who takes the subway to his creative destinations, as in his words, "It's a safer place to create on the underground."

Setting up Kusha Deep Records in 2003, after a second tour of Australia and New Zealand, it was clear that, if you did not do it for yourself, no one else would come to the rescue and release music that didn't fit in with the Swedish pop writing factory sound, or the X-factor machine that did nothing, but to devalue music even more than Napster had already.

Now fast forward to 2019, and it's even more clear that this decision was right.

Coming in from the successful 2018 EP, Dirty Lil Secrets, which mixed the sound of rock 'n' roll with dance music to form a sound that was described by Johnny Doom of Kerrang as, "Different," a sound that is now called by Dar.Ra, and his Midfield General Harvey Summers, "Rock Step."

"Different," has always been something people have said about Dar.Ra, and in a world of cloned artists, and boring celebrity culture, the world needs artists who are different now more than ever.

Carrying on the Success of the Dirty Lil Secrets EP, comes a punchy album titled, New Kinda Normal.

The artwork for the cover says it all, two consumers walking down a main street that has been destroyed by climate change, and by never ending conflicts in ideology.

Some people say that music should be just about taking the audience away from the everyday, and while Dar.Ra can do this; write music about the golden subjects of love and loss, which most pop writers only conjure, Dar.Ra prefers to dig a little deeper.

The opening track, "Diamonds 'N' The Shadows," on the surface sounds like a pop/rock track with some edgy guitars, but dig a little deeper, and you find the subject matter is about the dark suppression of our true individual nature. The subtly of an education system that makes you fall in to conformity, and the tall poppy syndrome that marks you out, if you disagree.

The video directed by Brendan Magowen is an epic tour de force of the human experiment of conforming and sticking to the script of being a good clone, that fits in with everything that has come before you, and everything that will will follow.

The humans in theDiamonds promo film are lab rats lost in a huge human experiment to see how much pressure they will take before they crack up and lose the plot.

There are some deep remixes for the club heads on the "Diamonds" single, which do what they say on the tin.

Other tracks on the album include the classic rock track "Heavier Than Rock N' Roll," which questions our present situation: seeing the change in the air, and ignoring it till things get too heavy to deal with.

Using the stable sound of the rock music of the 70s, with the story of future uncertainty, is a clever use of music, and words, to create the notion that we are clinging to a life raft of what was once stable, but is now no longer is.

"Back From the Brink," is a reggae inspired track that delves into a police type groove, with some trap synths thrown in, to make a reggae, rock, trap sound, that again, is different. The subject matter explores relationships that are not healthy for you, and how you you stick with them anyways, because you think that's what you deserve. That is, until you finally crack, and come back to your senses.

"Rock Steady," is out, and rock 'n' roll is about a guy cracking up under the strain of trying to be perfect in a relationship, and ending up saying, "You know what? I'm ok on my own, I don't need anyone telling me what I should do with with my life."

It's ok for a man to be single, and call his own tune, as the character ends up doing!

"The Beat," comes in, and smashes it from the off.

John Lennon wrote, "Give Peace A Chance," and we left it there in terms of songs that push back against war being the answer. So here's where Sir John Lennon left off.

Taken from the immortal words of Henry Kissinger, Secretary Of State under President Nixon, "If you can't hear the Drums of War then you're deaf."

"We sleep walk our way into war after war to satisfy a business model."

Other stand out tracks are, "Lights," which is a hymn to those who decide to take their own lives, the lyric prays that in that hour of darkness someone turns the light on, and says, "It's going to be ok."

Here lies a record that you can swing your body too, and sit down and work out solutions for some serious challenges that face us as a human collective to.

Of course we understand this is not for everyone, but if your bored of the same old playlist names, who shout loud and say nothing, then maybe its time for a change of brand.

New Kinda Normal is out from Kusha Deep Records Now.

Quotes:

Dar.Ra is a really unique songwriter, producer and author who makes an Amazing blend of Rock and Soul Music (21st Artists Hollywood).

Highly Impressive (Planet Earth Radio USA).

Well worth listening to this Artist (Strutter Zine Mag Holland).

Rock 'N' Roll Diamond In The Rough (Electro Wow USA).

Dar.Ra is an incredible act to follow as he is always evolving on each song with incredible results (Indie People USA).

Dar.Ra infuses layers of vocals and instrumentation into each record he makes. The genius of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles, came to mind while listening to, “Phenomenal,” “Back To The Brink,” and “Heart Shape Pill” (Tune Loud Magazine USA).

Rushing through with an intense energy is the colossal riffing of Dar.Ra’s “Heart Shape Pill.” Dar.Ra infuses a certain level of late-night sleaze into the proceedings resulting in an absolute blast of a track. Wild and carefree the song is pure bliss (Bongo Boy TV).

"This is Different" (Johnny Doom Kerrang Radio UK).

"Great Music, Ass Kicking Deep Tones" (Metal Mayhem Radio USA).

Nominated 'Heart Shape Pill' GK Rock Music Indie Radio Music Award 2018

Nominated 'Phenomenal' Rock Song Of The Year Radio WigWam FM 2018

Nominated IMA's Artist Of The Year 2019