Interview with Daniel Wylie: ‘You can trace every song back somewhere’

Glasgow-based singer songwriter Daniel Wylie will release his next single, ‘Our Love Will Never Die’, on May 28th, a sweet and heartfelt ballad that he wrote for his wife and which marks the first track from his forthcoming album, ‘Atoms And Energy’, out on 2 July 2021.

The album will consist of 10 tracks, according to Wylie: ‘’Our Love Will Never Die’ is the only 3/4 tempo one on the album,’ he said. ‘They’re all relationship songs, that’s what ties them all together. In the last five years, my mother has died. That was a big relationship for me. If I was to describe the album, it has a real tone of melancholy in it, remembering childhood things. The main strength for me is the melodies, when you listen to them they have an emotional punch. Even in a happy song, the sadness of the minor chords can take you to a different place. Great melodies do that, melancholy does that.’

His wife has got used to being his muse over the years: ‘She takes it for granted now, it loses its sheen,’ he laughed. I say that she must still appreciate it, though, and he calls out to her: ‘Did you love that new song I wrote for you?’ There’s a pause before he says, ‘Yeah, she says it’s sweet.’

The lyrics are testament to that: ‘I believe that the love I receive from you will see me through this lifetime. What you mean to me, can only be felt by me, you were there for me by design, desire, divine.’

Next up will be the second single from the album, ‘A Memory’, to be released the week before the album. ‘It’s more upbeat, I’ll let you hear a wee bit of it now. (It’s sunny and dancey.) It’s about the older you get, the more things there are that trigger memories of monumental moments in your life. The first verse is about people wanting to shape your life. The lyrics are “Peer pressure squeezing you back in the tube to live the way they do but maybe that’s not you”. It’s about breaking free of that and showing a stand and boldness.’

‘I’m going back to noisy guitars!’

After this album, Wylie is going back to his old band roots, which may be more in the vein of his former band, Cosmic Rough Riders, who have toured as the support band for Stereophonics: ‘It’ll be a full-on band with electric guitars, like early R.E.M. or Neil Young. I’m going back to noisy guitars!’

Wylie describes the last year without gigs as the longest period of his life: ‘Do you remember when your last gig was? I went to see Fleet Foxes (An American indie folk band) just before the first lockdown. I’ll make an effort for them.’ He’s a big fan of The Peach Fuzz, a five piece pysch-pop band from Liverpool and says his favourite songs are ‘World Leader Pretend’ and ‘Perfect Circle’ by R.E.M. He’s also had one of his songs ‘River Runs Dry’ on an episode of Gavin & Stacey.

His favourite guitar is a Takamine acoustic GD30CE, which he describes as ‘inexpensive but has a nice tone’ that his son brought back from America for him. Mixing it up musically is also very important to him: ‘The only way you can improve your horizons is to listen to different things. If I can’t take chances now, I never will. I love Michael Kiwanuka, Leon Bridges (who I’ve interviewed) and Arlo Parks. I listen to old Bossa Nova as well! I’m a massive fan of Led Zeppelin, they’re one of my all time favourite bands. My taste is wide and varied.’

Essentially, all music is an amalgamation of other pieces you’ve heard, according to Wylie. ‘You can trace every song back somewhere. One thing I learned from R.E.M. is that there are many great songs that are easy to play. It doesn’t have to be complicated. When I started to simplify things with more basic chord structures, I wrote better melodies. A friend said to me “The lyrics are important but they’re not important to everyone.” It’s the music that’s the universal language.’