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Art d'Ecco has dazzled listeners since he strut onto the glam rock music scene in 2016. With a face full of makeup and a bob wig hairstyle – d'Ecco's androgynous look screams "I don't give a fuck what you think." His music? A blend of David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed and just a dash of The Cure; then maybe you'll come close to describing how lively and eccentric d'Ecco is. Released in 2018, his first album Trespasser featured the hit songs, "Never Tell," "Nobody's Home," and "Lady Next Door." The release of this album left his listeners clamoring for more, and in response to this d'Ecco went on to release a cover of the Joni Mitchell track "This Flight Tonight" in 2019. During 2020 he released the single "I'll Never Give You Up" and had his latest album In Standard Definition ready to go; however due to the Coronavirus he was unable to put out the new album until recently.
The themes expressed In Standard Definition represented d'Ecco holding up a mirror to the pop-culture industry, and reflecting how shallow and superficial it all is. This concept album began with the track "Desires" in which d'Ecco took on the persona of an old Hollywood actor who had been replaced by a younger and more youthful generation. The album then moved through tracks, "TV God," "Bird of Prey," "Nothing Ever Changes," "I Am the Dance Floor," and "Head Rush" before coming to the album's first intermission "Channel 7 (Pilot Season)." This synthesizer-based track flowed smoothly into my personal favorite song "In Standard Definition." In this track, d'Ecco sang about a couple watching television before they go to sleep. While one of them is able to fall asleep by "counting sheep" the other is unable to; and is subsequently sucked into the "standard definition" of that TV channel. Following this song were the tracks "Good Looks," and "The Message," in which d'Ecco commented on society's obsession with dating apps, and how people feel disconnected from one another. The track "Channel 11 (Reruns)" acted as a final intermission on this album, and also as an opener to the final song "I Remember." In that final track, d'Ecco allowed the listener to get up and stretch their legs as he sang the chorus, "Deep in the sea of memory, I am after. Draped in the feel of a melody, I look after. I remember, I remember it so well."
In all, In Standard Definition was not only fun to listen to – but was engaging as well. Each song from the opener to the closer held the listener's active attention and even got them up and dancing along. This album has clearly been positively received by listeners and fans of d'Ecco given how both the "silver screen edition" and the standard black variant have both sold out on vinyl. At the time of this article's release d'Ecco has also covered the track "That's Entertainment" by The Jam; which sounded excellent due to how little d'Ecco altered the track. After all, if something isn't broken – don't fix it.
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