Dvsn is back with another incredible album, Morning After

9.5/10

Dvsn’s (Division) second studio album “Morning After” released October 10th, 2017. The OVO sound R&B duo released their first album “Sept. 5th” in 2016. In which it was vastly underrated and underappreciated. After a year, dvsn is back and better than ever with “Morning After.” Daniel Delay and Nineteen85 capture a new strong and powerful tone of their music, while still having that timeless and beautiful R&B sound.

Here is a review of my favorite tracks from dvsn’s Morning After.

Run away:

The first song of the album starts off with a eerie, dark and mysterious sound with some strong bass, with the strong and beautiful vocals of dvsn’s lead singer Daniel Daley, yet in Run Away, Daniel gives an almost Michael Jackson vibe and performance with his powerful vocals. The production has somehow improved since their first album Sept. 5th and is almost a trap beat compared to their classic R&B sound. The song tells the story of a man being too afraid of commitment and running away from his lady. He comes back and she accepts what he did, but he can’t help but feel guilty for leaving. He knows he won’t change, so he tells her to run away and to find someone better. The tone of these vocals are intense and almost angry, illustrates Daley’s message perfectly.

Nuh Time/Tek Time:

One of my favorites so far, Nuh Time/Tek Time tells the story of a woman wanting more from the relationship she has with, presumably Daniel.  The song begins with a dark melody and leads to the incredibly catchy chorus, the emotion in Daley’s voice really brings the chorus to life. The raw emotion in his voice throughout the whole song perfectly illustrates the dark, sad feeling the woman is having.

The second part of the song, Tek Time, dvsn responds to the woman in this part of this song. Telling her “anything good takes time,” He tells her that he’ll be there and wants to be a  part of her life in this part of the song. The beat becomes a little faster and dvsn’s classic melodies and ad libs help make the song feel more complete as he lets his falsetto shine and the power of his vocals end the song.


Don’t Choose:

Don’t Choose brings a incredibly catchy beat and is sung intensely by Daniel. Probably my  second favorite song on the album. Don’t Choose tells the story of Daniel telling a woman to drop her plans and to not choose something else over him. Dvsn finds a way to make their lyrics fit perfectly within the song and Don’t Choose is more proof of that. The phrase you’ll hear often in this song is, of course, “Don’t choose a…” and it’s very difficult to not sing along or get this stuck in your head. The end of the song is a monologue that brings the listener back to a simple time, ending the song with that classic old love song feeling.  As that is what the song is, a great love song, which is what dvsn set out to make.


P.O.V:

It’s difficult to dislike a song by dvsn. But P.O.V almost does that for you. While the lyrics and performance by Daniel are, as always, superb. I can’t stand the beginning of the song. It’s a man almost howling and just doesn’t sound good and throws off the song for me. I think it fits well behind the chorus, and the production of this song is great, besides the beginning which appears in the song multiple times. But then again, P.O.V is still a great song, dvsn gives an amazing performance and the dream-like sound that dvsn brings is like not like anything any other R&B artists are doing right now. Anything with Daniel’s vocals sounds great, but the beginning that appears often in the song is the only negative thing about the song.


Conversations in a Diner:

Dvsn’s soft vocals end the album. The last song Conversations in a Diner, is about the end of a relationship. The title of the song really helps the atmosphere of the song; it makes you feel as if you’re in that diner, overhearing the conversation between two people ending their relationship, such as the beginning of the song as Daniel softly sings “They don’t know we’re talking about walking to the end, they don’t care, They’re occupied with their own lives.” This gives an image of the couple, preparing to end their relationship in the diner surrounded by these people who can’t see or care that these people are hurting, as they have their own lives and agendas. The smooth, timeless singing from dvsn makes you feel sad that the album is over. The song is almost like a goodbye to the listener as well.

Dvsn’s second album “Morning After” is another beautiful piece of art from the two masterminds of dvsn, Daniel Daley and Nineteen85. “Sept. 5th” was vastly underrated and went under the radar from most people and did not get the national praise it deserved as probably one of the best albums of 2016. “Morning After” shows that even after the masterpiece “Sept. 5th” was, Dvsn somehow created an album better than the last, and “Morning After” is as good as it gets.