DanDlion drops brand new single ‘All The Way Up’
“A real find…limber electro-soul, all lugubrious vocals and Prince-like” skittishness” Sunday Times
“Never predictable, never less than thrilling” DIY
“Mesmerising alt-pop” Wonderland
“Magnificent…packed with refreshing ideas” COLORS
“DanDlion is the soul and sound to watch” Notion
https://open.spotify.com/album/3vVF0cim58rFl8M98O5aFh?si=eaTF-awwS7iD5BJaCcRuSg
DanDlion shares new single ‘All The Way Up’ today, featuring co-production credits from Scribz Riley and available now on Insanity Records. It marks DanDlion’s first new music since last year’s ‘Knock Knock’, which saw him cap off the year with a hugely accomplished sold-out show at London’s The Outernet where he was joined on stage by a brass section, choir, and more. Having headlined the BBC Introducing stage at Reading & Leeds (with a guest appearance from Griff), collaborated with the likes of Channel Tres, Dermot Kennedy and Tom Grennan (with whom he’s also toured), and amassing millions of stream to date, ‘All The Way Up’ continues DanDlion’s most creatively rich streak yet.
An incandescent recognition to those who elevate us, ‘All The Way Up’ is fulfilled by DanDlion’s deft combination of alt-pop, RnB, and future-soul – and ballasted by its newfound sentimentality. In his words; “this song was started back in 2016 with my friend artist, songwriter and producer Scribz Riley. I wanted to write something super uplifting to counteract the miserable November day in London that it was. It was left for a good few years until I started messing with it with my friend and writer Andrew Jackson. We dived deeper lyrically to describe someone that finds you at your most vulnerable and is able to pull you into the light. As soon as I’d made the lyrics more personal, I knew something was missing to really help lift the chorus melody and lyrics into a whole new place. This is when I called in the help of Toni Robinson who put together an arrangement for a choir to elevate the melody and bring the whole song to life! Without it sitting for a while or allowing each part of the process to take the time that it needed, it wouldn’t have turned out the way it has.”
The DanDlion of 2023 is a polymath pop artist who has hustled hard in learning to live in the present. Born in Reading to the self-proclaimed racket of a musical household, he moved to London aged 19; adopting the pseudonym of DanDlion to bring together the introverted and extroverted sides of his personality (in this case, the strength of lion and the delicacy of the flower). Like many young men of his generation, DanDlion has been working out how to balance the two sides ever since: a slow-burning process of self-discovery that he’s explored across experimental formative EPs Perspective, Fruition, When One Thing Leads To Another, and the shape-shifting of writing & producing for others.
Something, however, was missing – and in the wider wake-up call of a life-changing couple of years, DanDlion has gone deep to examine who he is, and what he wants. Beginning with ‘Knock Knock’ and continuing with ‘All The Way Up’, his new music is a testament to trusting your instincts, having the confidence to be ambitious for yourself, and making up for lost time. Being neither regretful of the past nor anxious about the uncertainty of the future is something DanDlion desires to bring out in his listeners, too. “As a songwriter it’s way easier to say how it is in a song than it is in conversation. I can’t always bring the walls down, but with my new music I’m getting better at saying how I’m feeling.” Frank, feel-good and a talent no longer hiding in plain sight, watch out for more to follow ‘All The Way Up’ soon.

