'' Food Chain ''is the second solo

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

album from

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

recording artist A musician is someone who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate a person who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters, ...

Sean Danielsen Sean Julian Danielsen (born February 14, 1982) is an American musician and artistic painter, best known as the guitarist and lead vocalist of American rock bands Smile Empty Soul and World Fire Brigade. In addition to creating one studio album ...

, who is also the

lead guitarist Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featured ...

and

lead vocalist The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

of American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

ensemble

Smile Empty Soul Smile Empty Soul is an American Rock music, rock band, originally from Santa Clarita, California, Santa Clarita, California, United States. It was started in 1998 by Sean Danielsen (vocals and guitar), Ryan Martin (bass), and Derek Gledhill (dru ...

. Published on November 4, 2014, the album was produced by

Eddie Wohl Eddie Wohl is an American composer, music producer, and mixing engineer. As an artist, he was signed to Epic, Elektra and Mercury/Island, and had a production deal with Roadrunner Records. Growing up on the East Coast, Wohl was in his first ban ...

, and recorded at Babylon Studios in

Van Nuys Van Nuys ( ) is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1 ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Background

In contrast to Danielsen's previous solo album '' Enjoy the Process'', which featured only the singer along with his

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

,'' Food Chain'' featured a full band. In October 2014, prior to the release of the EP, the singer released "Rescue Me", the second song from the album via

Revolver Magazine ''Revolver'' is an American heavy metal music and hard rock magazine, published by Project M Group. It was originally launched under Harris Publications in the spring of 2000 by Tom Beaujour and Brad Tolinski, who envisioned it as an American ...

. The singer stated that he selected the tune, because "it’s a very powerful song that a lot of people can relate to in this day and age", going on to say that "We live in an overly medicated society, and we all have people close to us being affected".

Touring

In October and November 2014, the vocalist toured

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

along with the

Midwestern The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

and south central United States to promote the EP. Preceded by a free download of "Food Chain", the title track and heaviest song from the EP, Danielsen toured the south central and

southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also known as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical List of regions in the United States, region of the United States located in the eastern portion of the Southern United States and t ...

during January and February 2015. The guitarist also toured the Midwestern, East Coast and East South Central regions of the United States from May until June of 2015, with plans to visit portions of the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and

central United States The Central United States is sometimes conceived as between the Eastern United States, Eastern and Western United States, Western as part of a three-region model, roughly coincident with the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau's d ...

between the ends of July and August 2015.

Critical reception

Sommer Sharon of

Screamer Magazine ''Screamer Magazine'', which billed itself "The Loudest Mag on The Planet", was an American rock music magazine. It was created by David F. Castagno in October 1987. The publication started out as a vehicle in which to promote local rock bands ...

the words to the songs as being "tight as usual", with the album being "cohesive", making for "enjoyable listening beginning to end". Sharon also goes on to say that the album excellently portrays Danielsen's "angst-influenced lyrics" and "signature voice". Reggie Edwards of The Front Row Report states that the album "opens with a three song knockout" that "will calm you to the point that when the title track kicks in... ...it takes you completely by surprise before going back to the acoustic". Edwards goes on to say that "Broken Bones and Skeletons" is "one of the more emotional tracks Danielsen has written in awhile". He also points out that the record ventures "in a different direction from what he’s done" with his first major label band.

Track listing

References

External links

* {{Sean Danielsen 2014 EPs Sean Danielsen EPs Albums produced by Eddie Wohl