Dan Mangan – Postcards and Daydreaming

It’s almost certain that according to the style of music you play, there are a multitude of stereotypes that make it easy for the music journalist to fall back on. Electronic? Check the introverted guy or girl sitting in the corner making beats on their laptop, black rimmed glasses optional. Folk? See the guy over there in a flannel shirt, acoustic guitar slung over one shoulder and a gruff, world-wearied voice to match.

Of those last three attributes, perhaps Vancouver’s Dan Mangan has one – that voice, rough and gravelly that belies the youth of the man who owns it. Mangan’s songs on his album Postcards and Daydreaming echo the sounds of many who have come before – Damien Rice perhaps the most pertinent.

His compositions involve quiet arrangements of acoustic guitar, drums and cello. In the middle of this sparse sonic range, Mangan’s voice cuts through with a gruff resonance that mellows when required. As delicate and subtle as this all is, this album has a tough time standing out from all its competition when the strongest tracks are shuffled towards the latter part of the album. Closer Reason to Think Aloud captures the essence of what Mangan does differently from his peers, as electric guitar and the subtle sounds of a weathered piano crescendo to a seemingly endless spiral of sound.