Dany Horovitz Rocks Out On “Don’t Look To Me”
Some breakups are mutual, some crush you, and some have you wishing the other would just go away as fast as possible. The last kind was the inspiration behind Dany Horovitz’s latest single, “Don’t Look To Me.”
The first single on the Canadian singer-songwriter’s upcoming album, Phanerorhyme, “Don’t Look To Me,” combines a catchy chorus and up-tempo melody with lyrics that describe someone very ready to move on from their significant other.
“Here we are stuck in old routine
I’ve had enough, do you know what I mean
You call me lover, you call me friend
I tell you I’m broken, you ask me to bend”
The singer performs these lines over a 90s-esque pop-rock background that evokes the high-energy songs of Barenaked Ladies, coincidentally Horovitz’s favorite Canadian band. This is a bit of a departure from his earlier releases, which had strong folk vibes, but with this track, Horovitz loudly declares his versatility and flexes his rock muscles.
The pace and energy of this song are why Horovitz decided to make it the single off of this album and the starter on the project’s tracklist.
“I wanted to front-load the higher energy songs, so the first three songs especially have a lot of drive,” he explained. “Of those three songs, I think that ‘Don’t Look To Me’ is catchiest because of its earworm of a chorus. It also has my trademark ‘sweet-melody-paired-with-dark-lyrics’ thing. In short, people who know me are going to like it a lot and hear something new and interesting, and it’s a great entry point for anyone who has never heard my music before, too.”
Phanerorhyme will be Horovitz’s second album and third project. In 2021, he released his first single, “Moving On,” which dove into post-breakup recovery. It serves as an apt juxtaposition to “Don’t Look To Me.”
“‘Moving On’ was about feeling joy again after going through heartbreak,” Horovitz said. “‘Don’t Look To Me’ makes for an interesting counterpoint, because it is an upbeat song about saying, ‘good riddance,’ to someone.”
Horovitz must have had someone particular in mind when he recorded this song in Toronto because he immediately matches the heat of the instrumentals, only gaining energy as the track goes on. It culminates in a very memorable close.
“One interesting thing happens at the end where I hold the final note basically forever,” Horovitz said. “The last 30 seconds of the song is all one breath.”
Horovitz is an exciting, rising star in the North American music scene. He has had several singles get radio play across Canada, the United States, Europe, and Australia, and his single “Free Tonight” earned him Top 20 honors on Cashbox Radio. The next song up is “Don’t Look To Me” – keep your ears peeled for this catchy tune on a radio station near you.
Listen to “Don’t Look To Me” below and learn more via our mini-interview.
Hi Dany! You’ve been in this space before, so what’s been going on since your last single?
I’ve been busy! During the pandemic, I found myself in a prolific and productive writing period, and now it’s finally paying dividends. So the short answer is I have been in the recording studio with plans to slowly build my canon over a number of releases. I’m in a really great position because I have so much music coming out for everyone to look forward to. “Don’t Look To Me” is the first release off of my upcoming album, Phanerorhyme, and by the time the album is released later this year, I will have another album in the can for next year, with plans to record another. I am honestly so excited about everything that’s coming up, and I hope people love the releases. So far, it has been really encouraging, as I’ve seen my streaming numbers rise since “Don’t Look To Me” came out, and the early feedback from everyone who has heard Phanerorhyme has been fantastic.
I’ve also been playing shows around Toronto, and I am very lucky to be on stage with a bunch of other really talented local acts, usually performing acoustic versions of my music. It has been very gratifying.
Tell us about the process of writing “Don’t Look To Me.”
Don’t Look To Me is a song I wrote years ago, shortly after a breakup. I did the breaking up, and I was trying to express how I felt like I was in a corner. We were both pretty unhappy, but I started feeling like she wanted me to save her, even though we weren’t a match. After the breakup, I wanted to find a way and express that and began noodling around on my guitar. The words “here we are stuck in old routine” came to my mind together with the melody, and that turned into a song.
What’s also interesting about this song is how the production changed its character. When I wrote it, there was this Eagles-y country-rock vibe. In the studio, Sean Royle, who is a genius musician and frequent collaborator, felt like the song should have more drive and more electricity. And as it happened, for that session, I was also working with Colanthony Humphrey, who is this absolutely incredible rock drummer, and so the switch was so easy and fun. Between the writing and the collaboration, the final product ended up being a fun, 90s-era pop-rock song. I flatter myself that it reminds me of the kind of song I remember the Barenaked Ladies recording when I was much younger (think, This Old Apartment or It’s All Been Done). And once my mind was open to all these creative ideas on the opening track, everything was up for grabs on the whole album. This is why the full album is called Phanerorhyme: it’s a play on one “phanerothyme” which was one of the names proposed for psychedelics. Basically, I’m saying that music is also a mind-altering substance.
As the single is “Don’t Look To Me,” what’s the one thing you DO really well outside of music?
I’m pretty good at figuring out who that celebrity is that you are thinking of, using your vague descriptions of their past work. It’s a useful skill when talking to my parents, their friends, and my friends’ parents.
What are your plans for the Spring?
I’ve got a few concerts coming up in Toronto (Supermarket on April 19 is the next one), and I am excited about those. I also have a bunch of more releases on the way: “Sorry From the Road,” which reminds me of a Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band song, comes out on April 21; “It’s No Use Trying To Change Me,” which is like a Bob Dylan song but featuring the banjo, comes out June 2.
I hope anyone reading this will follow me on Instagram (@danyhorovitz) to follow along for more details on shows and releases.
Glad you see you’ve made it past COVID, what did you learn about yourself since then?
I remember learning in school that T.S. Eliot talked about how imagination can produce its richest ideas when it is forced to work within a strict framework and that total freedom means creativity sprawls. It is an idea that always stuck with me. But during the pandemic, when we were locked down, there was so little to do that I started setting aside real structured time to play music and write. I found myself channeling all my emotions into creativity. I was writing more poems and songs, and taught myself a little piano. It was a lonely time but also a productive one. I guess I learned that T.S. Eliot was probably right, first of all, and that I can always find a way to thrive and feel creatively fulfilled if I try.
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