Daníel Ágúst - Swallowed A Star

Daníel Ágúst’s debut, _Swallowed a Star_, represents his solo outing after being the voice for Gus Gus over the course of two albums. He eschews dance tracks for a more classical sound; the album swells with cellos. This is a personal move for Ágúst; "The Moss" dances around on it pizzicatos (a danceable version of this would appear on Gus Gus’ album _Forever_, of course). "Nobody Else" shapes sharp intakes of breaths and bells to serve as the backdrop for lyrics that seems to have escaped from a disco track. Ágúst leaves a lot of spaciousness in his instrumentation, letting it remain sparse as necessary so that a fuller track like "Intersection" stands out. The bubbling electronics on "If You Leave Me Now" add a nice touch, while "Love and Respect" is nothing but strings. Though pleasant, Ágúst’s voice has its limitations, and there’s a lack of dynamic range to this album. Though he may have swallowed a star, he hasn’t yet started to shine.