Dan San

About

" Beautiful melancholic feelings through sophisticated pop "

A Belgian collective based in Liège, Dan San started out in 2010 with a taste for melancholy and gentle pop melodies. As kind of a supergroup, Dan San connects six personalities involved in other musical projects. Singer Thomas Medard, known for his work with The Feather, violinist Damien Chierici, mastermind of the neoclassical project Kowari, pianist Leticia Collet, aka Condore, bassist Maxime Lhussier, figurehead of Pale Grey, and singer Jérôme Magnée, known for his work composing for the cinema, are the driving forces behind Dan San.

After an absence of seven years, the Belgian band have recently planned their comeback in Paris, at La Frette. This former manor house, now a recording studio, holds a special place in the history of modern pop. Feist, Timber Timbre, IDLES, Parcels and Arctic Monkeys have all recorded their best songs over there. Gathered in this ancient manor, Dan Sans worked out their new songs, alongside producer Yann Arnaud (Phoenix, Air).

Released under the Francophile title of ‘Grand Salon’ (2023), Dan San’s comeback makes no secret of his preference for typically Anglo-Saxon sounds. To conceive this album, the musicians took refuge as close as possible to their bedside records. Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Neil Young and Nick Drake are just some of the references needed to understand the DNA of this record. A renewed passion for the Beatles thanks to the documentary directed by Peter Jackson, and the reading of a biography by Geoff Emerick, also fed the musicians’ imaginations.

Just a year after this resurrection to the heights of sophisticated pop, the group offered a refined extension. Entitled ‘Suite’ and released in April 2024, the Belgian band’s new album is a real road-movie. Written and composed on the road, in the middle of a tour, this record is the result of travel, a multitude of landscapes and encounters with the public. Orchestrated around folk desires and dream-pop melodies, the sextet’s latest effort reinvents modern pop, drawing beauty from the heart of powerful melancholy.