Into The Realm Of Love. Donna Blue

Donna Blue is on this blog from its very first single, although admittedly it took me a few months, over the summer holiday, for it to sink in. The date was 23 August 2018. Five and a half years down life's line the band is ready to release its second full length album. The singles preceding it all went down very well on this blog. So, how does Into The Realm If Love fare?

That answer is easy to provide. Fans of Donna Blue, like I am, will be extremely happy with Into The Realm Of Love. It is everything and more I hoped for, showing an incredible growth in suaveness and a positive form of decadence. When I hear Danique van Kesteren sing, it's like the warm-beating, red-glowing heart of an ice queen with all the promises that brings.

With Into The Realm Of Love Donna Blue has reached its peak, I would say. Where possibly to go next when this mix of the sixties, slow surf, film music and 1960s French sigh girls, including Nancy Sinatra is presented in such a convincing way? That next step is actually beyond my imagination. But, who am I? I am only the one who likes to be surprised. And that is what Donna Blue has done so far, time and again.

Like I already wrote, the duo's new album is at a high point, if not a lonely top, in its sort. I even have images of Marlène Dietrich in a (Berlin) cabaret in the 1930s. This kind of music could not be made at the time, but it certainly would have landed well. Donna Blue has found inspiration at many places over several decades and employs them extremely well. It results in a beautiful album. An album to listen to, dream away with, slow dance to, to submerge into. Into The Realm Of Love has it all.

The growth from record one to number two is considerable. There is almost no comparison. Child's play versus very grown up and serious. That is where the two stand relatively. Donna Blue has not left its basis. Far from even. What the duo did, is skip all the levels between the ground floor and reached for the top penthouse with ease. Musically the album is so much further and richer. The options Donna Blue could use seem to be so much larger and that shows in the rich details of the music. The arrangements are simply extremely well thought out.

The mood on the album is a cold, dreamy one. The music keeps its distance, except that I'm not allowing it to. It's me that decides to submerge in it. No matter the distanced way in which Danique sings. In this the reverb laden guitar of Bart van Dalen matches her voice perfectly. But then start listening to that glorious bass that adorns many of the songs, the subtle drumming and all, all else. That is where you find that glowing, red heart in Donna Blue's music. (And then Danique sings 'White Horses' with her most seductive voice.)

In short, I had expected a good album but certainly not one at this level of musicianship. Donna Blue has made huge strides and deserves a wider audience. It is ready for it. Into The Realm Of Love is a fantastic album.

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and order Into The Realm Of Love here:

https://snowstar.bandcamp.com/album/into-the-realm-of-love