David James Allen Shares 'The Moonlight Waltz'

(JSM) As anticipation builds toward the release of David James Allen's upcoming album Jubilation Potpourri this fall, today he shares another preview in the form of "The Moonlight Waltz." A stunning example of modern alt-country, the song's hazy vibes perfectly capture the feeling of drinking and dancing with your favorite partner on warm summer nights.

Allen says, "Inspired by many late nights on Dunlop Street in Barrie, Ontario during my twenties, I wrote it to reflect the night life - dive bars with karaoke evenings - places that made homes away from homes for a lot of people. Inside the walls, there's yearning, there's regret, there's freedom from the grind and a fleeting freedom from the sh*t you are running from in your own life. The song is like a state of mind and a moment you can't live in forever, because eventually it'll get the best of you and suck you dry like a vampire."

"The Moonlight Waltz" follows the previous singles from Jubilation Potpourri, "Platform No. 12 (Old Friends)" and "By Your Side," both of which were added to Sirius XM's North Americana and CBC Music's Canadian Country playlists. Jubilation Potpourri is the follow-up to Allen's acclaimed 2023 album By The Summertime, and finds him further developing his skills as an alt-country auteur, producing the music himself, while playing the majority of the instruments as well.

David James Allen has been releasing music for more than a decade, but over the past several years-after moving east of Toronto to the wilds of Prince Edward County-he has been startlingly prolific. Beginning with 2017's When The Demons Come and carrying on through 2020's Radiations and the following year's The Architect, Allen has been steadily amassing a remarkable body of work.

He cites Canadian poets Al Purdy and Nelson Ball for inspiring many of his lyrics, with a predominant theme being the perils of hard living. Musically, Allen builds upon a naturally soulful foundation few of his contemporaries possess, putting him firmly at the vanguard of the alt-country/Americana scene.

With "The Moonlight Waltz", Allen once again demonstrates his uncanny ability to find the sweet spot between simplicity and boundary pushing, with the end result being a song that delivers a pure message in a timeless package.

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