DANIEL Baron (pictured) has a certain coolness about him reminiscent of the Twilight movies. In fact, his calm and collected persona will probably remind you of Edward Cullen (played by Robert Pattinson). But just as you get comfortable with that persona, out comes a happy chap who loves all things musical.
Speaking about his upcoming second album, Baron could not hide his excitement. To begin with, he’s released a new single, Heartbreak City.
“They say there’s a lot of pressure for the second album, so with this new single that I have just released I’ve tried to keep to my original sound, but in a way that sort of changes it up a bit. With elements of surprise,” he said.
“It’s all about experimenting and not giving people the Daniel Baron they had last year, yet keeping to my sound. So it’s a lot to keep in mind.”
Coming off his highly successful debut album, It’s Time, which saw Baron work with the likes of ProVerb, the pop-rock singer is confident that from here on the sky is the limit.
“I am such a perfectionist, so much so that I think I must drive my team crazy. For example, for Heartbreak City alone we spent about three to four months on it because I wanted it to sound a particular way. It’s all about sculpting the song until you are totally happy with it.
“You don’t want to hear it on radio and think to yourself that there is something you could have done to improve it. Sometimes I don’t know when to stop and that’s when my team comes in to tell me to stop.”
With his sheer determination and fixation on perfection, Baron is happy with the feedback he has received for Heartbreak City.
“It debuted on radio about two, three weeks ago and the initial response was great. That was the first hurdle and the next is to find out if it has staying power and if we can get on to the charts. We also shot and released a video for it, something which we thought was important,” he said.
Like most good musicians, the inspiration for Heartbreak City comes from a personal place in Baron’s love life.
“The song has a retro feel to it. It’s a heartbreak story, but I did not want to bring a soapie feel to it. It has a happy vibe track. It has an electro feel to it where I look back at the heartbreak that I have had and laugh at it. It’s about how in the past you think I was trying to be this or that, but now it all appears petty,” he explained.
“When I am submerged in the moment, it’s quite hard to write, but once you are out of it then you can look back and sort of vent. I also love to write about positive things. One of my biggest tracks is called So Much More, which was taken by DStv to be one of their theme songs and it’s a happy song. I think it’s good to write positive things as well because people want to hear that.”
• Baron’s album will be out in October, but for a feel of its sound, catch him at Durban (Live – The Venue) on July 18 and Cape Town (Cafe Roux) on July 24.