The pop sparkle illuminating a too dull musical landscape! Darwin Deez makes music happy for sad people and make music dance for those who are happier! On 2 November, the New Yorker with the look of Jesus Christ will be preaching the word and delighting Luxembourg with the freshness of his music.

Brought up in South Carolina by parents who were followers of the cult Meher Baba, Darwin Deez’s father gave him his first guitar at the age of 11, a Fender Strat which he still uses today. Rather self-taught, he very soon started to write songs and to compose melodies. He discovered the rock/grunge of Nirvana, Weezer and other Foo Fighters. A first gear shift was with a number for the Chemical Brothers, and the electronic music was resourceful. He did all he could with samplers, rhythm boxes, keyboards and the like, manipulating his music. A second shift was in the rich guitar sound of Jimmy Eat World, where he took up his guitar again, frightened to miss something fundamental!

Rather isolated and singular, he fled the highly renowned Wesleyan University of Arts in Connecticut which had seen the likes of MGMT and Santigold. His new image was made in the anti-folk bars and cafés of New York. He took his place every Monday evening on the stage of the Sidewalk Café in the East Village which launched the careers, among others, of Regina Spektor and Adam Green.

It would be nice to find faults in an artist and an album destined for such success, but to deconstruct Darwin Deez would be an arduous task. Because it would be in extremely bad faith to suggest that the singer does not have a great voice. As strange as it may seem, he is reminiscent of Julian Casablancas on one track (Constellations), Chris Martin (!) on a second (Deep Sea River) and even Thom Yorke further on (The City). But the Bohemian songwriter from Brooklyn is not just a vulgar imitator of the giants of mainstream rock, he seems quite simply capable of mastering his voice and making it whatever he wants.

It was at home that he composed all 13 tracks of his debut album, recorded on his own computer with just a microphone to hand. With his pop melodies, mixed with video game beats and the rhythms of clapping hands, Darwin Deez is inimitably original. His music is fine, intelligent and effervescent. You rarely see personalities so disconcerting on disk and on stage. More than a sparkle, a star grows larger. Today, with his out-of-phase side, Darwin Deez is the favourite of NME, of Inrocks and trendy culture, but don’t be mistaken, tomorrow he’ll be one of the greats! On 2 November, like a star, Darwin Deez will illuminate the Club at the Rockhal!