Liverpool-based songwriter Daniel Astles, known by his surname, writes music that embraces contentment and heartfelt attitudes. Becoming a local legend for performances alongside the ten-piece ensemble the Balloon Moon Orchestra, Astles has also seen plenty of press attention. This year, Astles was awarded PRS Momentum Funding and signed a publishing deal with Starwood Management and Sentric. These core moments for his career are leading him nicely to his debut album, set for release in 2024 and made in collaboration with engineer/producer Sophie Ellis.
The latest track building anticipation for the project is ‘When Life Catches You By Surprise’, a song that laces in themes of being open to change and doing your best to be satisfied with the little wins. It speaks to joy and self-fulfilment, packaged in a gentle yet richly textured box. Arranged to slowly expand and grow throughout the track, ‘When Life Catches You By Surprise’ pulls in flowing instrumentation from grooving bass to glowing string sections. Vocally, Astles playfully delivers over the top, uplifting the listeners with each new line.
Astles explains the track, “When Life is a song about falling in love with someone all over again. Life is always throwing unexpected things our way, some awful, some beautiful. This song was written in direct response to a moment of overwhelming bliss. It felt like I’d had my eyes closed for months, stuck in a dark room with the curtains closed, a permanent frown painted on my face. But all of a sudden I opened them up, the sun was shining and me and the person I love couldn’t wipe the smile off our faces.
Suddenly all simple things that had seemed pointless and mundane, burst with technicolour and I had a spring in my step. Drawing pretty pictures, throwing paper aeroplanes, dancing like no one is watching – all that cliche stuff. Life will catch you by surprise if you’re around to see it.
Me and Sophie Ellis, who produced the song, really pushed ourselves to go for our ideas and create something we hadn’t before. Musically it’s influenced by Pavement, Macy Grey and Old Hollywood string parts. It doesn’t hold back and goes for it in all regards.”