On latest album preview A Good Song, Dan Webb samples interview dialogue from Deerhoof frontman Greg Saunier for a jazzy manifesto on the purpose of music itself.
Dan Webb has released A Good Song, the latest release of the Melbourne producer’s upcoming fourth album Sunshine/Dialogue. The single features direct samples of dialogue from Webb’s interview with Greg Saunier, during which the Deerhoof frontman muses on the definition of a good song. For his part, Webb underlays the thoughtful spoken-word lyrics with compelling flurries of electro-jazz, as punctuated by Saunier’s sporadic giggles and echoey vocals.
“I don’t believe in a good song,” Saunier opines atop Webb’s electronic riffs and punchy percussion. Elsewhere, Webb introduces spacey backing synths and an atmospheric fade-out that only heightens the thoughtfulness of Saunier’s words, allowing the listener to likewise ponder the needless “proscription” of defining what constitutes a “good song.”
While Webb showcases undeniable prowess as producer, it’s the creativity behind his choice of the interview medium that reigns supreme on A Good Song. Few artists can translate a meaningful manifesto about the concept of music itself into a jazzy earworm, while still making the whole enterprise feel effortless — as if it was an overheard piece of Webb’s own internal monologue.
“When the definition of a good song becomes a proscription, it’s completely useless,” Saunier declares over the expansive soundscape. “What you want is a good song to become undefined, so that everything that has been proscribed is now allowed.” The interview-sampling single — which is described in a press release as the “emotional centrepiece” of the upcoming project— forms the structural basis of Sunshine/Dialogue.
The 12-song album will similarly be informed by Webb’s discussions with a range of musicians, which is said to span Grammy Award-winners and Rock and Roll Hall-of-Famers, as well as promising indie upstarts. Sunshine/Dialogue is set for release on June 9, and is available for pre-order now via Webb’s Bandcamp here.
Alongside the just-released A Good Song, Sunshine/Dialogue has so far spawned fellow singles Drifter and Europa. The album will serve as the follow up to Webb’s 2019 studio effort Exotic Erotic Concoction, as well as 2017’s Oedipus the King and the 2014 debut Sandstorm.
Listen to Dan Webb’s new single A Good Song below, and keep an eye out for the full album set for release on June 9.
