Daniel Francis Croll (born 18 July 1990) is an English singer-songwriter. He is known for his songs "From Nowhere," "Compliment Your Soul," "Home," and "Yesterday." Often associated with

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

and

folktronica Folktronica is a genre of indie electronic music comprising various elements of folk music and electronica, often featuring uses of acoustic instruments—especially stringed instruments—deploying hip hop, electronic or dance rhythms, and ...

, his work also spans

indie folk Indie folk (also called alternative folk) is an alternative genre of music that arose in the 1990s among musicians from indie rock scenes influenced by folk music. Characteristics The staff of '' Paste Magazine'' said in 2020: "No music genre ...

folk-pop Folk-pop is a broad Music genre#Subtypes, musical fusion genre that includes contemporary folk songs with pop music, pop arrangements, and pop songs with intimate, acoustic music, acoustic-based folk music, folk arrangements. Folk-pop has been ...

rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...

, and 1970s-style R&B and

soft rock Soft rock (also known as light rock or mellow rock) is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in the United States and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, mel ...

. In 2011 he was named Songwriter of the Year by the

Musicians' Benevolent Fund Help Musicians (formerly Musicians Benevolent Fund), is a United Kingdom charity offering help for musicians throughout their careers. History It was created by Victor Beigel in 1921 as the Gervase Elwes Memorial Fund, following the death of En ...

while attending the

Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts Liverpool is a port city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population of (in ), Liverpool is the administrative, cul ...

. His debut single, "From Nowhere," was released in 2012 and achieved commercial success. Croll followed it with 2014's full-length album '' Sweet Disarray''. He has since released the albums ''

Emerging Adulthood Emerging adulthood, early adulthood, or post-adolescence refers to a phase of the life span between late adolescence and early adulthood, as initially proposed by Jeffrey Arnett in a 2000 article from ''American Psychologist''. It primarily des ...

'' (2017), ''Grand Plan'' (2020), and ''Fools'' (2023), as well as the EP ''On Top'' (2021).

Career

Early career

Born in

Newcastle-under-Lyme Newcastle-under-Lyme is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. It is adjacent to the city of Stoke-on-Trent. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the population ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, Croll moved to

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

when he was 18 to attend the

(LIPA). While at LIPA, he won the national Songwriter of the Year award from the

and was one of eight students picked to have a one-to-one with LIPA founder Sir Paul McCartney. He wrote his 2020 track "Yesterday" about the experience of meeting McCartney.

2012–2015

Croll signed to Turn First Records in 2012. His debut single, "From Nowhere," was released worldwide on 24 September 2012 via Turn First / Racquet Records (Croll's own imprint) as a digital download and limited 7". "From Nowhere" spent 3 days at the top of the

Hype Machine Hype Machine is a music blog aggregator created by Anthony Volodkin. History Hype Machine was originally a music database created in 2005 by Anthony Volodkin, then a sophomore computer science major at Hunter College.Heilemann, JohCapturing the ...

popular charts, was playlisted in the UK on

BBC 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It primarily plays a wide range of alternative music, from established and emerging artists and bands. In 2002 it was the first national music radio station t ...

XFM Radio X is a British national commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. The station launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station named Q102, before being renamed Xfm in 1992. The station b ...

and Amazing Radio, and received spot plays on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

. The song also received airplay in the US, reaching #36 on the Billboard Alternative chart. Croll was named a ''Guardian'' New Band of the Day in November 2012 and described as "Paul Simon jamming with Prince. Very nice." Croll released his second single "Compliment Your Soul" in March 2013. This was followed up by the release of "In/Out" in July 2013. On 13 October 2013, Croll released the song "Home" on his own

VEVO Vevo LLC ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized in all caps until 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available ...

channel on YouTube. On 29 October 2013, during an on-air

Virgin Radio Virgin Radio is a branding of radio stations broadcast in Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Italy, Romania, Turkey, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. As of April 2024, there were over 40 stations globally. The stations ...

interview, Croll confirmed he had finished recording his full-length debut album. The LP was expected to be released early in 2014. His song "Compliment Your Soul" was included in the soundtrack for the video game '' FIFA 14''. While his song From Nowhere’s remix by Andrew Baardsen was featured in a radio station in Grand Theft Auto V. On 19 April 2014 for

Record Store Day Record Store Day is a semi-annual event established in 2008 to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". Held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November, the day brings together f ...

, Croll released a limited 10" orange vinyl featuring 2 unreleased songs. Side A featured "Hello My Baby" (featuring

Ladysmith Black Mambazo Ladysmith Black Mambazo are a South African male choral group singing in the local vocal styles of ''isicathamiya'' and ''mbube (genre), mbube''. They became known internationally after singing with American Paul Simon on his 1986 album ''Grace ...

) which was backed with "Ever at Your Side". Croll went to

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

to record "Hello My Baby" with the group. The limited vinyl was released in independent record stores on the day.

2015–present: Subsequent releases

In September 2015, Croll released the single "One of Us." In June 2016, Croll announced that he had signed with

Communion Music Communion Music is a British independent music company that includes a record label, (Communion Records), a publishing company (Communion Publishing) and a concert promoter (Communion Presents). History Communion Music was founded by musicians ...

. The electro-song "Swim" was released on 25 August 2016 through the label. The music video for "Swim" was released on 31 August 2016. Croll's second studio album ''Emerging Adulthood'' was released on 21 July 2017. The album was produced by Ben H. Allen. In 2018, Croll relocated from Liverpool to Los Angeles. In 2019/2020, he began working with producer Matthew E. White at his Spacebomb Studios in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

. In early 2020, multiple new songs were released, and a third album named ''Grand Plan'' was announced on 15 April via social media. It was released on 21 August 2020. In 2021, he released a live version of the album, recorded at Spacebomb. Later that year, Croll released the four-track EP ''On Top''. Released in July 2021 via Communion, it was also produced and recorded with Matthew E. White.'

Discography

Studio albums

Studio EPs

Live albums

Remix albums

* ''In / Out'' ( Turnfirst /

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, record label * Decca Gold, classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, musical theater record label * Decca Studios, recording facility in West ...

, 2013) *''Nobody Knows (Remixes)'' (Decca, 2014) *''Home (Remixes)'' (Decca, 2014) *''From Nowhere'' ''(Remixes)'' (Decca, 2014) * ''Tokyo EP'' (2017)

Singles

Guest appearances

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Croll, Dan 1990 births Living people English male singer-songwriters Musicians from Staffordshire People from Newcastle-under-Lyme Alumni of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts 21st-century English singers 21st-century English male singers