Album Review: Feast

Watch out Chapelle Roan because there is a new Lesbian Pop Princess and she has made the sapphic album of the century! A bold claim but one that can be proven as soon as one listens to Feast in its entirety. 

Feast starts with an intro song called, well, Introduction. This features Danica singing with just soft guitars behind it and is an alluring opening to the album. 

Burlesque Witch is such a funky song that starts with cute guitars and gets stuck in your head for days. This is one of my favourite Danica songs to hear live and I have been waiting eagerly for years for it to be released! Burlesque Witch is about the pressure to stay beautiful as a woman in the entertainment industry, where it is encouraged to do things to stay ‘beautiful’ and not age naturally. This song is powerful in its message whilst still being a fun song to dance to. 

Where are all my nonbinary, gender nonconforming, and androgynous humans at? Because this is the song for you! Androgyny Alchemy is a fast, fun, sing along at the top of your lungs bop! “You turn me on when you turn into you” is a powerful lyric about being yourself!

In Love (With A Girl) is an absolutely beautiful song about (obviously) being in love with a girl and how much better it makes the world. Featuring lyrics such as “no more sugar in my coffee, no more vodka in my punch, no more lonely in my lifetime, no she has made it such” to really highlight how special this love is. I really need this song to be sent to every producer, director, writer etc. of shows or movies that have a young lesbian couple because from the moment I heard this song I pictured it being the perfect background music to a first kiss between teenage lesbians discovering themselves and their sexualities. The chorus also features one of my absolute favourite lyrics “and I will love you when you butterfly and let your wings unfurl”.

The next 2 tracks are already released songs Buzz and Acid which are both fun songs that have been hits since they were released. Buzz being about getting ready for a night out and Acid being a sexy Halloween song about lesbian love.

Cinnamon is the sweetest song about how so many of us struggle with our body image and the pressure to conform to societal expectations of how we should look. It talks about the right relationship where being loved no matter what can make that struggle just a little bit easier together. “How much of love is just a shared hurt” and “how much of love is just a shared care” show that there is love in indulging together and lessening the impact of pain by sharing it. Cinnamon is made to sound elegant with its soft guitars and drums combined with Danica’s sweet voice.

Going from that slow pace of Cinnamon we now have The Band which is such a fun and upbeat song about Danica and her band members Nat Bennett and Tyler Blythe and the memories they’ve made together. My favourite line is “feeling like we’re so Hawkes Bay”.

A crowd favourite that we have also had to wait forever to be released is the charming and for lack of a better word, deliciously sounding Old Chocolate which Danica says is the oldest song from Feast as she wrote it around age seventeen when she got into her first real relationship and became terrified of it ending not in some dramatic scenario but in just the sad reality of falling out of love slowly. It is about how we need to maintain a connection in relationships the longer that they continue as it can be so easy to accidentally fall out of love, and I think the lyrics “the popcorn goes stale, the words fails the ride slips off its rails” is a perfect way to describe what she is trying to get across. For me, this song sounds like a croony song that would be sung by a powerful woman at something like a speakeasy in the old days and I love that vibe.

Narcissist features another Wellington singer Julia Belle and is about being egotistical for assuming people care about what Danica is doing at all but also how it does take a degree of selfishness to prioritize following your dreams. It’s got some sweet higher pitched vocals and a nice light drum beat. An easy song to listen to, and one of 3 songs in a row (Narcissist, All The World’s A Theatre and Morals) that tackle Danica’s dream of being a musician as a neurodivergent person from different angles.

All The World’s A Theatre is such a randomly put together song but it works! The verses are slow and soothing and then the chorus is high energy and fast! I get huge Gwen Stefani vibes from this song, especially the chorus. It has a very funky guitar riff at the end where Nat gets to show their guitar skills. All The World’s A Theatre is about accepting and almost revelling in that Danica *has* to put on a show, but how there can be a certain joy in that weirdness. Is she really being herself or masking for other people’s benefit? 

We all deal with moments where we have to think about our integrity and morals and if they are helping or hindering us and Morals is the perfect song for describing how this can work in the music industry. “How can I be satisfied, I want the world, I weighed my life, I find the feast its mine oh mine” are powerful lyrics to hone in that no matter what you won’t be free from your morals and confining yourself to specific expectations of how they should play out and how you must behave to achieve them. I know I keep saying it but Danica’s voice and range are highlighted in this song.

(I’ll Be Your) Drag Queen which to coincide with Feast‘s release has a music video dropping today that features a famous Welly drag queen and playboy girl Bunny Holiday, is a sweet sounding song about dressing up for someone’s desire, being their fascination, and doing what they want. It has a dreamy feel to it that reminds me of a beauty school dropout from Grease. This song ties in well with the previous 3 about being a performer, putting on a mask and a show, and also wanting that attention. It is poignant at times but a beautiful way to end the album.

There is not a single song I can fault on Feast which is a rarity for an entire album, I listen to it on repeat a lot and it is not getting old. The way Danica manages to evoke raw emotions of love and heartbreak, have me bopping along and singing along, and also make me want more songs from her is a true gift! Her honesty and beauty in representing the LGBTQIA+ community in her lyrics is something that is very much needed and appreciated, and I seriously mean it when I say this is my sapphic album of the century! 

Danica is an artist not to be slept on, and who is destined for more than what Welly can give her. Her voice is dreamy, powerful, and punchy when needed and I for one think her dreams are not mad or egotistical at all. I cannot wait to see where Feast and any other albums she releases take her!