Single Slam – Sly Dog by Demi the Daredevil (Ditto Music)

Demi the Daredevil, the Austin, Texas based Art Pop/Dark Cabaret band, are preparing to release a new single called Sly Dog. Sly Dog will be released on the 14th of November and follows their 2016 EP release Secret Schizoid.

GBHBL had a chat with the band after that EP release which you can read here.

Demi the Daredevil, originally from El Paso, formed in 2006 by high school friends Jovan Ortiz, Marc Martel, and Jeff Azar. The band made quite a name for themselves locally and garnered a large cult following spurred by a winning Ernie Ball Warped Tour contest slot. Sadly Jovan Ortiz passed away and Marc Martel left the band. Jeff Azar continued on with support from his brother, Thomas, a skilled piano performer.

Demi the Daredevil look to stand out musically by packing their songs with dark theatrics, intricate melody and meaningful lyrics. Fans have described them as many things including “flamboyant, eerie and introspective”. The band are influenced and inspired by many different styles of music from Phil Collins to My Chemical Romance and from film scores from the likes of Andrew Lloyd Webber to Green Day. 

Sly Dog is around 4 and a quarter minutes long. It is very different to the music I normally listen to. Actually it is quite different to anything I have listened to before, in or out of metal. You definitely get a sense of the theatrical from it. It could easily be a song in a soundtrack to a Tim Burton or dark animation movie and gives you visions of a huge stage with performers prancing about all over it. Sly Dog is a well laid out song and is very clear and well mixed which is important as there is a lot going on. It was mixed by Sean O’Keefe who has worked with the likes of Fall Out Boy and he has done a wonderful job here.

Musically it is hard to pin down and pick out certain instruments or sounds. There is a lot of nice piano melody but so many effects and other instruments over it that you find new layers with each listen. A quick and catchy drum rhythm ticks the song over and it feels fresh, exciting and very creative. The vocals are brilliant too. Jeff has a great voice and I enjoy the theatrical, showman style he delivers the interesting vocals in. His voice coupled with the melody adds a dark and sombre feel to the whole thing as well.

Sly Dog is a fresh sounding song that is overflowing with creativity and feeling. As a fan of metal, this is outside of my normal genres though I do get and enjoy the dark and eerie feeling and atmosphere behind the track. I also really like the singing sound and style. As a fan of music though, I admire and respect how unique and fresh Demi the Daredevil are and how well written and structured Sly Dog is. I can’t wait until it is released so I can show it off to a few people who I know will love it.

Get you hands on some of Demi the Daredevils music over at their Bandcamp page. You can also grab some at the links below. You can find out more about Demi the Daredevil over at their official website. Give them a like over on Facebook. You can check out some of their music for yourself on YouTube or Soundcloud. You can also follow them on Twitter and Instagram.

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