THE DISCOGRAPHY
[click album title to purchase on BandCamp at name-your-own price]
Following the examination of life's more challenging elements on "My Demons & Me," Bauer's July 2023 release, "Divinity Infinity," views the future through a more divine, optimistic lens. While this project is a continued self-examination of many of the themes featured on prior releases, the tone switches from mournful and angsty to curious and inspired. Musically, the album is a further evolution of Bauer's brand of melodic, experimental pop. With church organs, gratuitous synth work, and ample woodwind presence (including bagpipes), Divinity pushes the songwriter's production to its most mature and varied point to date.
Alongside the album, another Production Visualizer was produced, which can be viewed
The first of Bauer's two simultaneously-created albums, "My Demons & Me" tackles themes of anxiety, depression, addiction, and self-doubt. Over its succinct 32-minute runtime, the album winds myriad genres and soundscapes. An experimental pop album at its core, MD&M features songs written primarily on piano, with touches of harpsichord, choirs, banjo, beatboxing, and more filling out the palate of featured sounds.
In addition to the music, a new audio-visual way to experience an album was released. Much more than a typical lyric video, Bauer's "Production Visualizer" presents audiences with precise instrumental information in live time as the album plays, and this unique audio-visual production can be seen
All songs written, recorded, performed (all instruments), produced, and engineered by Dan Bauer.
"Love, Dan" is a seismic leap forward production and diversity-wise compared to its predecessors, featuring an eclectic indie-pop sound. The lyrics, like the musical tones here, land on an ultimately-positive note, with a message of self-love resonating through tales of grief, depression, longing, and soul-searching. The album runs precisely 1:00:00 in length, and has a rewarding ending for attentive listeners.
Through its 11 songs, which range from piano ballads to pop-punk, this batch of candid songs generated 4 singles. Among these are the sequel ...everyone's(?) been waiting for: Ass Like That 2. More serious topics, such as suicide attempts, are front and center with Alive!, its music video shot on location at real-life attempt locations. All the album's Bauer-directed music videos can be seen
All songs written, recorded, performed (except brass parts), and produced by Dan Bauer.
All songs mixed and mastered by Zach Zyla.
"The After Life" is a 49:00 journey of angst, despair, and unrelenting energy. An alt-rock album at its core, the project flows seamlessly between tracks for its entirety, and is best experienced with a full front-to-back listen. With songs ranging from breakneck punk anthems ("We Don't Know What's Up," "The Balance") to introspective ballads ("When We Grow Up") sandwiched between grandiose openers and closers, "The After Life" feels both diverse and cohesive with its varied and sprawling production throughout.
The album spawned two singles, "High Strung," and "The Balance," whose music videos were self-directed and can be seen
All songs written, recorded, performed (all instruments), and produced by Dan Bauer.
All songs mixed and mastered by Zach Zyla.
"Love, Muffin" is an album which was conceived of, written, recorded, and fully completed within a six week time frame, from mid-May to early July of 2018. The album was borne of heartbreak, and was ultimately too personal to release upon completion. Only once "The After Life" was released in September 2020 was "Love, Muffin" first publicly acknowledged and made available to stream.
With songs drenched in melancholy, "Love, Muffin" can be described as something of an alt-rock album, although it has its fair share of delicate moments ("P.S.," "Rocketship"). The album spawned no singles and was not promoted upon completion, although a few of its songs are still staples of live performances.
All songs written, recorded, performed (all instruments), produced, and engineered by Dan Bauer.