Brooklyn – Danielle Miraglia is a Massachusetts-bred soloist whose blues-brewed work packs a philosophic punch. Masterfully, Miraglia’s harmonica-laced ballades chronicle both the artist’s temperament and the status of the masses. With her latest release, Glory Junkies, Miraglia holds a mirror up to modern day tendencies and, altruistically, offers a calming musical conduit to counter the pitfalls that surface.
Miraglia – who, when pressed to put her work into a bucket, would point to folk-blues or roots-rock – picked up a guitar at 13. Considering this artist’s current technical ability, it’s likely she’s barely put down her vintage Gibson since.
Miraglia attended Emerson College in Boston, not far from her hometown of Revere, MA. This musician originally intended to be a novelist, and graduated with a degree in creative writing. Thankfully for her fans, she chose an auditory outlet to house her penned reflections of the world.
This is Danielle’s third full-length record and is her most nuanced compilation to date. “I’m getting closer to writing songs with fuller arrangements,” Miraglia told Best New Bands. “It’s the closest to something I might actually listen to.”
It will come as no surprise to those who love Miraglia’s work, that her tastes skew toward the golden era of rock ‘n’ roll. Janice Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin all hold a place in Miraglia’s roster of influences. The Rolling Stones, Prince, Paul Simon and Joni Mitchell are also close to the core of what inspires her, but Miraglia also counts the kings and queens of classic blues as artists formative to her aesthetic.
“The music I love either moves your heart or it moves your groin,” Miraglia said. “It’s got to change your body chemistry in some way.”
Miraglia has had some of the tracks on Glory Junkies kicking around for some time, and others she wrote specifically for the album. Yet, a golden thread connects all the songs that makeup Miraglia’s latest, because Glory Junkies is the first record the artist has tackled that trumpets a singular theme from start to finish.
“We live in a culture of narcissism,” Miraglia said with a bemused laugh. “Everyone posts every move they make online, and I’m guilty of it myself. It seems like it has permeated the whole culture. No one is really communicating with anyone in a real way anymore.”
To that end, Miraglia is self-aware. She emphasized the paradox of pursuing a career that literally puts her in the spotlight, while expressing longing for a more humanized, less narcissistic society.
“To a point it’s human nature,” she said, by way of demystifying the phenomenon. “But to a point it’s because of social media and the ability to create your life online. We have more tools to fuel that fire than ever before. It’s almost like an epidemic.”
She paused to add, with emphasis, “I do like to make fun of it, because I am part of it.”
The genius of Glory Junkies is that Miraglia successfully pokes fun at a proverbial “selfie nation,” while also fully owning that tendency. Glory Junkies offers up deeply narrative lyricism and carefully crafted compositions, and, as a result, navel gazing has never looked so attractive.
Glory Junkies boasts a song about reality TV, and one (the title track) that pokes fun at immortalizing one’s own image. Others stray into more personal territory, hitting close to home on Miraglia’s family dynamic, but the concept of the album remains a mainstay throughout.
On “Warning Fair Warning,” an evident standout on Glory Junkies, Miraglia evokes funkier overtones that brim with vitality. The record’s closer, “Pigeons,” is another gem that brings the record home with a degree of calmness that’s near impossible to nail with an endnote.
So what does Miraglia hope her work gives listeners, and what’s next for this artist?
For now, she’ll be focusing her efforts on promoting her record release show, which is scheduled for May 8 at Davis Square Theatre in Somerville, Ma.
But in the interim, Miraglia’s one wish is simply that her work resonates with her fans.
“I just hope it moves them in some way,” she said. “Different songs serve different purposes. Some are meant to move your heart, and others aim to make you think about things in a different way. Sometimes it’s just about entertainment.”
“I like to not take it too seriously, but also make a point without being overly pretentious about everything,” she said.
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Liz Rowley
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