EP Review: Songs About Food

Tāmaki Makaurau-based artist dān dān has spent the past year curating an EP of songs about food, and the final product is exactly what it says on the tin. Bringing together seven singer-songwriter style tracks, this soulful collection frames human experiences around the cultural value of eating. It’s a whip smart device for creating a cohesive artistic vision. Moreover, it highlights dān dān’s own background and relationship with food, which she describes as “the source of so much trauma and now so much celebration”.

dān dān’s theatrical vocal tone is the core of this project. Her delivery is light and sweet, but intensely expressive, and clearly extensively trained. Each line is crystal clear, enunciated like a musical and reminiscent of artists like Laufey and Lizzy McAlpine who serve as undeniable inspirations for dān dān’s work. The underlying production typically focuses on a subtle, stripped back sound to emphasise her singing above all else.

Lead single pressure cooker tackles the pressure of expectations with raw lyricism, and a towering bridge that stacks on top of itself and tumbles over. “I don’t want to be you,” dān dān whispers, as steady acoustic guitars and increasingly dissonant harmonies build the emotion. This song’s chorus is particularly catchy, with a melody that sticks like rice to the side of the bowl.

end of august (hand-pulled noodles) is one of the EP’s standout moments thanks to its dreamy orchestral direction. Warm strings and plucked details paint a picture of a glorious romance that fades to nothingness when dān dān admits “We know this will end“. The passing of time is a big focus for this EP. dān dān brings up timelines and the ever-changing sense of self again on closer songs about u, reflecting on life’s transient nature as constantly “rewriting the story“.

cigarette breakfast is another standout, in part for its ingenious choice to use the flick of a lighter as a beat. This song is sad and mysterious, dwelling on relatable feelings of loneliness. Buried within an EP about food bringing people together, the song’s isolating narrative hits even harder than it might on its own. Whilst at this point in the collection, the listener might feel dān dān could benefit from more variation in tempo and style, it is also abundantly clear that she does this sound extremely well, and there’s a lot to be said for executing such a distinctive vision so smoothly.

From its title, songs about food might appear to be an easy or even comedic listen. But don’t let that simplicity fool you. dān dān’s debut EP has plenty of profound messages and heavy emotions for the listener to digest. It’s a delicious release from a promising new Kiwi artist, so it’s high time you dig on in.