By: Rachel Heller
Released in the late summer of 2020, Dan Croll’s newest album Grand Plan is a mixture of wonder, longing, love, pain and uncertainty that is reflected in a world that has forced us all into introspection. It is a mirror of us that shows the main character of this story on a hero’s journey exploring foreign lands while learning how to balance the head and the heart. The harmonic tunes, light guitar riffs, and simple rhythm in the opening track Yesterday recalls a memory that is quite remarkable yet embarrassing for Croll as he was not prepared to meet Sir Paul McCartney. This eases us into the next song, Stay In L.A. where his inner-most hopes and aspirations shine through the uncertainty of his new reality being away from his home back in the U.K. Although his new reality consists of the inspiring sun-rays and infinite shores of the West Coast, Croll reflects on how much he misses his home in the next track, Rain. The songs So Dark and Coldblooded show the lessons in life we learn about love, and the thin line there is between it and the acceptance that it never goes according to our plan but perhaps a grand plan.
The album’s featured song, Grand Plan, is about how someone on a journey of self-discovery will look at those around him and begin to not only question his own prospects but his purpose and place in this world. Through the doubt and challenges, to the overthinking and anxiety, it is about seeing life in a humble manner but facing it head on knowing he will eventually fill the gaps within himself. The easy-going instrumental and catchy rhythm in Hit Your Limit emphasizes that life’s challenges even get to the best of us. Everyone has got their limit, and Croll’s empathy along with his smooth vocals is what we all need right now, especially during these times.
Croll ends the album on a bittersweet note where his time in L.A. has come to a close and he reflects on the excitement his travels brought him in Surreal. It is a celebratory pat-on-the-back he gives himself for taking a fool’s journey into the unknown and coming out as a new man. This is also highlighted in Together. In a reflective, melancholy and loving undertone for not only his journey but for his old self, he says goodbye to the old Dan Croll while encouraging his listeners to also go on a journey of self-discovery by affirming them that when they do, they’ll “give them one hell of a show.”
The beauty of this album is reflected off of Dan Croll’s personal discovery of the Self and his heart that never gives up even when the head is his worst enemy. With the light notes of his guitar, he tells a story of a hero’s journey. It inspires us to be true to ourselves and to live in our most authentic light because the journey of finding ourselves is the journey of finding our way home.
