Wavy indie folk flows with grace and ease on Dan Strauss’s ‘The Golden Goose’. Off his 7th and latest album, The Haze of Winter Flowers, ‘The Golden Goose’ is a wonderful introduction to the rich and whimsical world of a badly overlooked folk veteran.
Dan Strauss writes effective and emotive music revolving around his army of soft guitar strums and lines, and his gentle, soulful croons. A singer and songwriter based in Brooklyn. He is also a high school teacher of science and music who often performs in his local circles.
I want to believe that Strauss is something of a local star who’s revered by musicians and non-musicians alike. You know the ones who influenced pop icons when they were younger? I would like to believe that this totally masterful songwriter and producer is one of those illusive names that are good at dodging the spotlight. ‘The Golden Goose’ is a perfectly sweet piece of folk-pop that revolves around caramel-smooth strums and a few memorable melodies from Strauss as he tells one more of his nuanced stories.
Driving but ever-so-gently, the song’s rhythm is ever in motion, and Strauss’s vulnerable voice delivery and playful melodies are a perfect accompaniment to the silken nature of the beat and the mystical composition. The lyrics, sung from the perspective of someone after the end of a relationship, recounting all the things the other side could have had but lost, are somewhere in between sullen and hopeful, and the colorful composition fits the bill, with major chords borrowed from outside the key injecting spots of unexpected brightness in the chorus.
A beautifully written and rich piece of pop that comes with weighted songwriting, lyricism, and production. A song that got me ready to dive in head-first into the world of Dan Strauss to find out what I have been missing.
