Navigating a music career after a pandemic is no small feat and was certainly a culture shock for NW London raised pop artist Daniel Briskin.
Coming on to the scene in 2020 with the release of the single ‘boy on the lake’, Daniel’s image and sound is clearly well cultivated, often embodying a lot of the influences that he spent consuming throughout the lockdowns. From the R&B groove of Frank Ocean to watching interviews and talks with high fashion connoisseurs, it is very apparent that Briskin has used that time to form himself into the artist that he wants to be.
Considering himself an introvert, he speaks about the lockdown as an epiphany which made him realise that he was sick of sitting around and doing nothing. It was this realisation that allowed everything to switch in his head and made him appreciate the feeling of being free, a sentiment that is very strong throughout all of his new releases.
His talent and experiences in writing and producing music are explicitly transparent. From well-intertwined samples and complex layered rhythms, Briskin is pushing the boundary of what to expect from a ‘pop’ artist. The production and craft of all of his releases, from early 2020 singles to the new release of ‘Headlights’ on the 11th of February, shows how much he cares about what he is doing, and it is exciting to see.
From writing and producing sessions all online and cancelled tours, to suddenly being pushed into the real world as an emerging artist can be daunting, and the pressure that it takes to do so is admirable. Daniel muses on his experience supporting Tom Grennan on his UK tour, stating that “being so cut off from the rest of the world, to then go on tour a year later with thousands of people is so crazy to me”.
He also notes that quite importantly, this tour was his first experience of performing live. While Daniel did go to a performing arts school, from Silvia Young to BIMM, he says that he was very absent at school, and struggled to perform on stage without holding onto a mic stand.
“I remember thinking on the Tom Grennan tour, this is either going to go one of two ways, this is either going to be amazing, or it’s going to be absolutely terrible. I guess by that stage it had dawned on me that it’s just what you have to do.”
With the electric reception of Grennan’s audiences, and with the release of ‘Headlights’ on February 11th and ‘Lover Boy’ later in the year, it is exciting to see what else Briskin has to offer and to see his confidence grow as a multi-talented musician.
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‘Headlights’ will be released on February 11th.
Words: Tamzin Kraftman
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