Diana Darby -‘I V (Intravenous)’ (Delmore)
It’s probably fair to say, after several years of writing reviews that I have more than had my fill of singer-songwriters. This applies to both sexes; it’s the fact that they mostly seem to fall into the category of being bland or far too confessional, with just a handful actually having something to offer.
Thankfully, the American singer Diana Darby falls into the latter category. Comparisons that have been made to Galaxie 500 and Mazzy Star are pretty accurate. In a sense -and I mean this as a compliment -it’s a fragility that is actually endearing rather than wearying. There’s a stripped down quality that really does prove the cliche of less being more.
A song like ‘If Love’, for example, may seem slight, but there’s a dark, addictive quality to it, that gradually seeps in. It may not re-write the rulebook, but it’s a beautiful album that doesn’t outstay its welcome, and shows the singer-songwriter genre may yet have more to offer…
***1/2
I V (Intravenous) is out now on Delmore