Living Darian has graced the world with 18 solid songs

New Kings Records and Cincinnati, Ohio super-musician, Living Darian has been busy – 18 songs on the impressive Live For Love, busy. While many artists churn out half that amount of tracks and call it a day, Living Darian has graced the world with 18 solid songs that uniquely define him as a prolific artist and an overall amazing musician.

What’s most exciting as a listener, is the way Living Darian divvy ups his talents. On some songs he’s playing the piano in the same way Fats Domino might, or at times the classical piano seeps through. He’s also completely capable of rapping in the style of Nelly or Flo Rida. He’s a bit more mainstream than these guys, but he’s also got the basic artistry of someone like Tupac. I found the tracks “Hit The Highway”,  “Bring Up the Lights (featuring Neveah Sky)” and “Down By The River” to be the best representations of Living Darian’s scope and diverse artistic endeavors. He’s remarkably able to go from a classic rock sound to hip hop to pop to finding a middle ground in positive lyrics. “Carry On” another impressive track is sobering and grips the listener. “Carry On” has a beautiful music piano arrangement. “I believe I find my reasons…didn’t think I could live, but I got so much to give” Living Darian raps. The words stick and remind the listener to find a way. It’s not the same as the burning inspiration from say “St. Elmo’s Fire (Man In Motion)” (who remembers that 1985 hit from John Parr and the title track from the Brat Pack hit movie), but it enlists the same human nature element of you can do it!

BANDCAMP: https://livingdarian.bandcamp.com/track/live-for-love

“Live The Way I Choose (Featuring Blizz)” is a burst of energy. The rap delivery is quick and the rapid style is solid. It’s hard to keep up with the words, but the music bed is killer. It’s much more TechN9ne than Nelly. The piano keys make little appearances in the song and weave their way around the rapid fire of words. “I’m making rhymes, I’m going to live my life the way I choose” the lyrics proclaim.

It’s easy to fall into Living Darian’s mesmerizing talents. The music beds are all unique and he throws in a few explicit lyrics here and there. I’m personally cool with that, but some folks might be surprised based on the positive messages of songs like “Hit The Highway” and then listen to “Fork In The Road (featuring Quin B)” where he aggressively raps to “F the fence!” At its core, though, “Fork In The Road” ingratiates itself to the listener with its inspiring song and to remind one to get going and make your own rules. The musicality is strong in “Fork” and it’s worthy of edging out a few other tracks on the album.

“These Things” and “Steppin’ Out” were my least favorite tracks, but they are still by far impressive. I just fell more into the vibes of the aforementioned tracks from the album and the tracks’ messaging.

Overall, Living Darian inspires and impresses in Live For Love.

I-TUNES: https://music.apple.com/us/album/live-for-love/1460602406

Mindy McCall