For his new album ‘Fools,’ Dan Croll returned to his familiar haunt Montrose Recording in Richmond, VA, stepping into the role of co-producer alongside his regular recording partner, Spacebomb’s Matthew E. White. The record finds Dan Croll at a crossroads, documenting recent events with warmth and wit to help him decide which direction to take. Five years after leaving his beloved Liverpool for sun-soaked L.A., a move made on a whim, which transformed his sound, ‘Fools’ poses a fundamental question – is it finally time to come home?
It was in 2018 that Croll upped sticks from his native Liverpool and relocated to Los Angeles in pursuit of going back to the basics of his singer-songwriter roots. The result, the Laurel Canyon influenced ‘Grand Plan’ saw Croll strip his sound right back to its core. The album, which tells the story of Croll’s first year in L.A. from uncertain first steps, to making it a new home, was released in pairs of tracks, reflecting the time the record depicts.
The range of bands that have asked Croll to support live – from Imagine Dragons, Bastille and Bombay Bicycle Club to Haim, London Grammar and Chvrches – attests to the ambitious scope of his songs. The same can be said for the breadth of brands that synched every song on his debut album among them Grand Theft Auto, FIFA, Citroen, Clairol, Burberry, Paul Smith and Apple’s iPhone 6, which was launched across the world with his hit ‘From Nowhere’.