Review – Kay Berkel Teams with Daniel Romano for Great Little EP
Whether you’re looking for some new music involving country music Canadian throwback Daniel Romano since it’s been exactly three years since his last release, or if you’re looking for a new name that embodies that classic country sound and style from the Golden Era that has been so lost and overlooked in the current country music malaise, this little four-song EP from Kay Berkel, a love interest of Romano’s and a member of his backing band The Trilliums, will be right down your alley.
Like a treasure tucked away in a time capsule from being too precious to only be enjoyed by one time period, the music of Kay Berkel’s You Erased Me From Your World (When You Drew Her In) EP transports you back to the most revered era of country music when the sentiments were pure, the sound was fresh and foreboding, and the modes proved to be timeless. Daniel Romano takes a heavy hand in this effort, writing all four of the songs and producing the session that sees him singing close harmonies with Berkel through many stanzas, but Kay matches Romano’s ability to capture a reminiscent sound and mood and rekindle a style of country that captivates audiences thirsty for a more classical approach.
For only four songs, this EP covers a lot of ground. “I’m Convincing Me” starts as the sweet account of a pining heart, and turns into a full fledged murder ballad. The “You Erased Me From Your World” title track draws on Romano’s cunning ability to re-create the mood of country’s classics in new forms. “Diamonds and Dogs” might be the best-written track of the lot, while “If Words Can’t Express It” strikes a slightly more contemporary, 70’s singer/songwriter feel compared to the others.
This collaboration between Romano and Berkel works so well because Kay can take songs ideas from Romano to a vocal register Romano can’t as deftly accomplish to tap into the pure emotion of the lyric, and do it from a female perspective. They’re like the He-Man and She-Ra of Canadian throwback Rhinestone indie country, battling the evil forces of country music gentrification with their powerful classic country muse.
The primary cause for concern with this EP is that it is only an EP. This is why such short efforts are sometimes discouraged, because they tend to go so unfortunately overlooked in the incessant dirge of full-length disc releases that overcomes many consumers from their sheer numbers. You expand this style of music out to ten or twelve tracks and people will be telling you it’s one of the best things they’ve heard in a long time. But if this four song experiment achieves the desired results, perhaps we’ll see a more elongated release soon enough. Because Kay Berkel and Daniel Romano have stoked an appetite for this olden style of country music that four songs just can’t satiate.
1 3/4 of 2 Guns Up.
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January 24, 2015 @ 9:58 am
I wanna bare Kay Berkel’s children . She’s obviously in love with me . That’s the only possible explanation I can find for the way her voice and her unique and emotional performance almost brings me to tears .
Call me sappy , call me nostalgic , call me old-fashioned but there’s simply no way anyone drawing breath can NOT be moved by THIS woman singing THIS music . It’s raw and heartfelt and yeah , these may be over-used adjectives in describing REAL music but I haven’t had the chance to describe too much REAL music in a while so damn the torpedoes .
This is the kinda honest stuff that passes the one-voice-one-acoustic guitar campfire test REAL songs need to be able to pass NO MATTER THE TIMES, THE GENERATION , THE DEMOGRAPHIC , THE GENRE , THE TECHNOLOGY or even the singer . I’m talkin REAL songs- like Sun Daze , Burnin It Down, That’s My Kinda Night . Sorry ..just wanted to make sure you folks are still reading …..
January 24, 2015 @ 11:22 am
Lovely. That classic sound and that voice remind me a bit of early Rosanne Cash. 🙂
January 24, 2015 @ 12:57 pm
Diamonds and Dogs is a BEAUTIFUL song!!!! Awesomeness!!!
January 24, 2015 @ 4:13 pm
Wish it were on Amazon. Sounds great!
January 24, 2015 @ 5:42 pm
Swift, Lambert, Underwood, and the whole dad-blamed lot of em, can kiss this little girl’s butt!
I’m with the good Reverend Albert on this one.
Dang it Trigger, every once in a while, you review something worth listening to, and this is one of those times.
January 24, 2015 @ 10:32 pm
Shades of Kelly Willis, I’d say. And that’s a compliment!
January 25, 2015 @ 11:30 am
Not sure if I’m happier to listen to this EP or to now have the knowledge that Daniel Romano is still around writing amazing country songs…
January 25, 2015 @ 2:04 pm
I think I’ve listened to the EP about 6 times since first reading this review yesterday. Truly phenomenal. Very soothing too.
January 25, 2015 @ 3:13 pm
Trigger,
The only thing that bothers me about this article is that you refer to her as “indie”. This is ACTUAL Country music. Why can’t we just call it that?
January 25, 2015 @ 4:04 pm
“Indie” is short for independent. I know that can also describe a type of music that can be considered somewhat eepish or “hipster,” but in this context it was meant to describe her as being a completely independent artist, not signed to a major or even independent label.
However, Daniel Romano does have another side of the music world he inhabits where he plays with an indie rock band, and so the use of “indie” is a slight allusion to that as well. I don’t consider THIS project, or Daniel Romano’s last album “indie” music however. I would consider it classic or neotraditional country.
January 25, 2015 @ 11:02 pm
Beautiful songs, full of deep lyrics, warm melody, and Kay’s piercing voice. “Diamonds and Dogs” is my favorite as well.
An interesting aspect of this EP is that 3 out of the 4 songs are in classic country triple time, rather than the rock-based quadruple time that prevails even in most independent country songs today.
January 26, 2015 @ 6:40 am
Great review – Daniel Romano is an amazing young singer/songwriter who can really sing it. SO looking forward to his next album. Thanks for the review Trigger!!