Real Estate – Daniel review

Whilst everything changes around them, Real Estate’s world seems to exist in a state of constancy, the New Jerseyian quintet rarely giving into to the temptation of hijacking their own formula. There is an argument that this is wise because it’s unlikely most bands could top the evocative soundscapes of their second album Days, but either way Daniel is their first album in four years, following up on 2020’s The Main Thing.

It was also largely created with the band living and working together in Nashville alongside Kacey Musgraves producer Daniel Tashian. Hence the name? Well, no they’ve claimed, instead wanting to give a human face to a record which arrives in even more complicated times than the last.

Beauty can still be found in it if you look hard though and with the familiar reverb drenched guitars, singer Martin Courtney’s almost childlike vocals and an expert use of hooks and melodies, even if it’s a formula, it still pays off on the likes of Somebody New and Water Underground. Here and there tinges of country perhaps inevitably creep in – most noticeably on Flowers – but any changes are more ripples than a reversing of the tide. Daniel still lives very much however in Real Estateville, spots still up to rent or buy.

You can read a full review here.