Daniel Isaiah

Only One Left // Independent

Only One Left, the third album by Montreal based songwriter Daniel Isaiah, deals in ruminating on the grand and universal until it becomes highly personal. There is a particular fascination with geography throughout the record; many of the songs were written on the road in cities all over the world (seven countries!), and these locales function as a lens by which Isaiah deciphers his own life. “Love Love Love” is a highlight early in the tracklisting that injects some excitement on an album otherwise characterized by it’s restraint. This isn’t a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination; the spacey-ness of the synths and chorused out guitars are a perfect backdrop for the musings on love and death that Isaiah specializes in. The two final tracks are the best example of this: “Til the Pictures Stop” and “Three Months, Emily” are both explorations of how we experience the world when we’re faced with loss and loneliness that make it hard to appreciate how wonderful and beautiful the world (specifically Montreal and Florence in these tunes) can really be. Only One Left hits the mark, and delivers a group of songs that will command your thoughts long after it’s run time has elapsed.

- Sean Newton