Julian Daniel Pays Homage to Euphoria In New Track, “Topanga”

Annie Shiroff
2 min readSep 4, 2020

Hailing from Toronto, Canada, 20-year old Canadian singer-songwriter Julian Daniel carries himself with a sense of bravado and sheer confidence as he unapologetically forges his own path. “I want to give a voice to younger generations and help them feel like they aren’t alone. I want to show that it’s cool to be different and break boundaries,” says Daniel.

Where his debut EP, E-Boy, could be characterized as fluorescent electro-pop — soon garnering the attention from the likes of The Chainsmokers. Even as the music was garnering attention, Daniels still faced challenges. This soon inspired him to focus his efforts outside of his artist pursuits on mental health awareness, in turn transforming the takeaways around Hidden Hills to deliver Daniel’s message for those struggling. “The entire project was originally inspired by the theory of 27 club, old Hollywood, fame, love, and abuse of drug use. I am in no way glamorizing suicide,” he says “as I have personally had connections with people who have attempted and know people who have lost their lives in this form. I want to be clear that if you need help, speak to someone.

His forthcoming mixtape, Hidden Hills, is built on feverish production, glimmering guitar work, and Daniel’s sharp vocals. Throughout the duration of the mixtape, evocative lyrics and sharp poeticism intertwine through as Daniel details the decay of love and forlorn through the lens of Courtney Love & Kurt Cobain’s relationship. Speaking on the inspiration for the project, Daniel states, “For a while now I have been infatuated with Kurt Cobain’s story, his love life, his career, and his death. In honor of this I wanted to speak light on what happened to him and his story. I had a line in my songbook which read, ‘she said she wants to make a movie, not one to watch on the big screen, one to watch when she’s lonely.’”

Today, he’s sharing “Topanga” the latest track from the forthcoming project. Characterized by glaring synth work layered throughout anxious string arrangement, “Topanga” finds itself exploring euphoria and bliss over the course of its brisk three minutes and four seconds. “Topanga was the second song written for the project. It pulls from the feeling of young love, carefree emotions, and embracing youth”.

Listen below.

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