Hello,

Thank you to everyone who came to the Little Civic last night and helped to set The Balloon EP off on it’s flight!

The band and I had a great night, we really enjoyed playing to such an attentive and warm audience. A friend of ours called Carsten took some photographs, he has really captured the event well, you can see his photos here.

Tomorrow morning the balloon EP is released in digital format on all popular download sites, including itunes, hmv digital, 7 digital et al. So if you didn’t manage to get a hold of an EP, or you have a favourite track you’d like to download you can do so!

Our next gig is another full band show, supporting a great band from Canada called Wintersleep at Bar Academy, Birmingham on Feb 10th.

If you enjoyed the gig last night please save this date in your diary now: May 23rd 2009. We will be launching the next EP ‘ The Bubble’ at Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton with a full bodied performance, including a live string quartet.

Keep in touch and see you soon,

Best Wishes,

Dan

Good afternoon,

Hope you have all thawed out after the recent big freeze – now keep warm and read my blog…

In addition to the regular activities of working, sleeping, and eating I have written a few new songs, ‘Holding My Head Under’ ‘ I Saw The End’ and ‘If I I Grow Old’ – I can’t explain the themes in one sentence; so don’t read too much into the titles! ( I am not depressed – honestly!) please come and see me play on January 31^st at Little Civic, Wolverhampton for the full story….

You can buy a ticket right now for only ?3, but it will be ?5 on the night

Click Here For Tickets

I also just checked my mail and received two reviews of ‘The Balloon EP’, and before you say anything NO I didn’t’ write them myself! It seems that some people like the music, and it is lovely to know that someone is listening, and receiving the right messages. This coming weekend I will be getting on my hands and knees and covered in paint producing the next batch of discs…Click Here to buy one of the few remaining copies of the first run.

“Very original, very very tasty and very very very unputdownable! ”

“Whitehouse writes beautifully poised songs that are both emotional and dramatic whilst still being somehow uplifting and magnetically compelling”

“I had listened to his tracks on MySpace a fair few times, and the richness of the CD is something else”

Scroll down to read the EP reviews in full.

I am looking forward to a full band rehearsal tommorow, and recording the final part of the EP trilogy ‘The Box’ has been booked for February.

Hope to see you at the Little Civic on Jan. 31st,

Take care,

Dan x

1.

Dan Whitehouse – The Balloon EP

Hey, this is pretty dramatic stuff from Wolverhampton singer songwriter Dan Whitehouse!! Very original, very very tasty and very very very unputdownable!   On the acoustic side dynamically but with oodles of big dramatic statements and a fantastic feel, ‘The Balloon EP’ is real top quality stuff -  a more than pleasant change from some of the more banal stuff out there at the moment, Whitehouse shows great all-round musical skill, educated and mature writing and a frightening ability to hold the listeners attention.

If I had to make comparisons I’d have to point you in the general direction of Damien Rice; Whitehouse’s wonderfully easy vocal delivery is quite similar, his emotionally charged songs are not unlike Rice’s and his general appeal will probably be with Rice followers. Saying that, Dan Whitehouse isn’t trying to emulate the great man, it’s just that there are similarities – and hey, that aint a bad thing anyway!!  Actually, Whitehouse is possibly more commercial than Rice; his music is possibly more expansive and more all-encompassing but less morose and generally somewhat ‘lighter’ in feel!

Whitehouse writes beautifully poised songs that are both emotional and dramatic whilst still being somehow uplifting and magnetically compelling. Whitehouse’s press pack outlines his musical pedigree and it’s pretty impressive so he’s already earned the right to whatever plaudits he may now get. Certainly I like Dan Whitehouse’s music; it’s mature but not too challenging, it’s different without being self-indulgent and it’s got masses of commercial tendencies.  Whitehouse builds on a theme, what might start out mellow and haunting often opens up to be something that’s breathtakingly robust, anthemic and pretty tangible and real.

Although Whitehouse is putting this out as an EP, with seven quite stunning tracks it’s more of a mini-album – great value for money and a pretty full-on look into Whitehouse’s eclectic and diverse musical world. This guy has talent by the shed-load and ‘The Balloon EP’ is a fantastic chance to experience the man and his music.  Go on, seek him out and give Dan Whitehouse a try – I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!  ‘The Ballon EP’ by Dan Whitehouse is the absolute mutt’s nuts!

Peter J Brown aka toxic pete (www.toxicpete.co.uk)

2. Mr Dan Whitehouse’s new Balloon EP arrived in the post today,

=)

The modest Ink Refill Man envelope and 100% recycled cardboard CD sleeve, containing a CD whose production values are far more epic, symphonic, orchestral, and beautifully rich and lush sounding than the modest packaging or indeed, accoustic Balcony TV appearences, and tinny MySpace recordings, imply. The packaging is terribly endearing however, with a free Balloon gift sticking out the top, and an inside sleeve that looks sweetly hand drawn in marker pen on the one side, and yet boasts a detailed black and white photo of band members on the other, with text that reads: “This music was lovingly nutured by a group of passionate and talented musicians.”

What to expect?

Think singer/songwriter guitar pop with ambient electric guitar, complimentary and momentum-building piano, choruses of strings, crescendo-building drums, and Dan’s trademark vocals. You’ll get an idea of his sound at http://www.myspace.com/mrdanwhitehouse but I had listened to his tracks on MySpace a fair few times, and the richness of the CD is something else (or it might just be that I bothered to plug in the satellite speakers and sub woofer for this one, ^_^). I had been worried where production would go now that (genius) Tom Greenwood (Dan’s old production partner during the Sonara days) is stateside, but I find myself listening to what Dan and his new band have done, and trying to figure out how to achieve such a good sound, as opposed to finding any faults to highlight.

The lyrics give plenty to identify with and read into, although the CD only just arrived in the post this morning, so I haven’t had it all sink in yet, but the mood is in keeping with Dan’s themes of containment – balloons, bubbles, boxes, etc, as implied by titles such as “It’s Good to Getaway”, and lyrics like “here’s hoping you don’t get tied down to the Carousel”.

I’ll be able to elaborate on lyrics once I’ve listened to it a bit more.

In fact, I’m probably writing prematurely here. So I’ll go listen some more, and let my opinions properly formulate.

For now, I just wanted to share my excitement, and urge you all to support Dan’s effort.

The EP is for sale on his MySpace page for about £7.

click here.