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Last night when I got a message from Daniel Rinaldi asking if I we would be interested in reviewing his debut solo EP three things happened. One, I flailed and freaked out a little bit (lots!), two, I tried to "play it cool" with my answer (failed it!), and three, I didn't sleep all night long because I knew the EP was just sitting there in our inbox waiting for me to listen to it, but it was late at night and with reverence to my roommate and the people that live above our apartment, I held tight and waited until morning! Now it's daytime, my roommate is at work and I don't care if the neighbors are up yet or not, but I'm not waiting a second longer!

You may recognize Daniel Rinaldi as the former vocalist of New Jersey rock band Bedlight For Blue Eyes. When the band dispersed in 2009 I was devastated! Bedlight being one of my absolute favorite bands at the time, and Daniel Rinaldi laying claim to my absolute favorite vocalist! Years later on a Google search to see what had come of the vocalist that had inspired me so much, I found out that he was taking off on his own with a solo career, and good lord was I pumped! For the past several months I have been antsy and itching to get my hands on this EP, and I'm not going to lie, there are some seriously high expectations going on here.

If you've been around The Sound Faction at all, you know that we aren't just any kind of music bloggers. When we write reviews we don't pick apart and dissect the songs like you may expect, we are more interested in giving you our honest to god opinions of the songs, and if we like it, we'll tell you so, and if we don't... we'll tell you exactly how we feel about it. We are not music scholars, for the most part we don't know jack shit about what goes into composition, chord structure, key signatures, (Google is telling me that Klangfarbenmelodie is an actual composition term...) and to me Deceptive Cadence sounds more like the name of a sweet super-villian than something that is part of a song... but I know what I like, I know what sounds good, and that's how we do it around here. So without further adieu, let's listen to the EP!

The EP itself contains five tracks that add up to just under twenty minutes long. Fifteen seconds in and track one (Keep On Dancing) already has me grinning like an idiot, so so so happy that Daniel Rinaldi has put out more music to share his phenomenal talent with the world. It's a departure from his previous foray into music that most of us are familiar with (Bedlight for Blue Eyes) but still has the same energy and passion, which was what I loved the most! But I knew what was going on, and I was expecting more of a pop vibe, and this track doesn't disappoint! There is just something about a really well done pop song that puts a grin on my face, brightens a gray and dreary winter day and gets me up on my feet and dancing around my room. This is definitely one of those songs! If it wasn't like five degrees outside I would jump in my car, cruise down the highway with the windows down blasting this song at max-volume! Rinaldi's vocals are strong as ever, and the lyrics to the song are fun, uplifting with a sing-along melody that will get you grooving along.

Track two (Hurts Like Hell) kicks off with a funky beat almost reminiscent of something you would expect to hear from Hall at Oates in the mid-eighties, but with a modern twist! The song truly highlights the strength of Rinaldi's vocals and songwriting abilities! Hurts Like Hell very well may be my favorite track on the album. It's definitely bringing back fond memories of the music I grew up with crashing head on into all the things that I love about pop music! I love it so much, in fact, that I had to listen to it five times in a row before I allowed myself to move on...

But move on I did eventually, to track three (One One One), Rinaldi's first single from the EP! I had heard this one previously, having followed Daniel's Facebook page (facebook.com/DanielRinaldiMusic) and had fallen deeply in love with the song from the very first time I heard it a couple months ago. This song brings it down a touch but not too much, keeping the ballad upbeat. It's a perfect song in the middle of the EP to mellow out for a moment before track four (Outta Control) grabs you by the shoulders and gives you a firm shake, commanding your attention!

Outta Control is the type of song that takes a very certain musician to do right. The song explores the things that have gone desperately wrong in our world and gives a strong call to arms to change our ways. It's the type of song that walks that incredibly thin line between "This is the same song I've heard a thousand people sing before" and something that makes you sit up, pay attention and want to make a change. Daniel Rinaldi doesn't just walk that line, but breathes life into the same-old theme.

The fifth and final track on the album "Shut Up" is perhaps the most adorable thing I've ever heard in my LIFE. I am really struggling to write something about this track, because as this exact moment in time I am dancing like a fool! This song is just FUN, it's pure, energetic, catchy- as-hell FUN! This is pop music how pop music should be done! None of this pre-packaged, auto-tuned, clicks-and-beeps garbage... Shut Up is chalk full of upbeat melodies, killer hooks, funky breakdowns and a phenomenally talented musician at the helm of it all! Remember when I said that Hurts Like Hell was my favorite song on the EP? Let's call it a tie!

When I told my roommate that I was going to be listening to and reviewing Daniel Rinaldi's Ep today, she gave me a knowing laugh and said "gonna write something good?" to which I replied (with my "play it cool" face on) "If the EP is good, I'll write something good"! Don't get me wrong, I knew that this EP was going to be good and I expected it to be make me smile and groove around, but I was wholeheartedly unprepared for what was coming! This EP blew me out of the water! It was so far and beyond what I expected to come out of a pop EP that I'm still reeling (and 3 hours later, still listening!). Daniel Rinaldi has stepped up to the challenge of my extraordinarily high expectations of him and smashed through the bar I had raised. I can not wait to see all the amazing things that I know are coming from him next!

Daniel Rinaldi's debut solo EP is out on February 7th, for more information and to keep up to date with his going-ons, make sure to follow his facebook page at facebook.com/DanielRinaldiMusic!

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