D Mills returns with new record

Los Angeles-based producer, artist and session musician D Mills has always explored music through an array of different roles. Known offstage as Danny Mills, he’s spent years developing a wide-ranging musical output, moving between production, songwriting and live performance while building a sound informed by hip hop, R&B, jazz and rock. His family history also carries a notable musical connection; Danny is the great-great-grandson of the late blues legend Bessie Smith but his own journey has been defined by an adventure that began in his teens and a determination to turn the ideas in his head into his own musical expression.

He began learning music at sixteen, an age at which he’d already decided it would be his lifelong pursuit and during high school, he met Dr. Gayle Serdan, who taught him to play piano and helped form his ambitions as a producer. Growing up, he’s been exposed to a wide array of sounds, from hip hop and R&B to jazz and rock. Piano offered a way to bring those influences together, giving him the tools to build music from the ground up in his own unique way.

“I took piano class because I wanted to be a music producer. I knew that if I learned piano I could compose anything that popped in my head,” he explains. It was also through learning the instrument that Danny encountered the possibilities of blues and jazz, particularly their relationship with improvisation. “The fact that you could improvise and play what you felt in a song really intrigued me.” That freedom to follow an idea in the moment became another part of his musical outlook, expanding his understanding of what a song could be.

After high school, ge gained firsthand experience of performing live while he later taught himself bass and guitar, steadily adding to his repertoire and expanding the range of sounds he could bring to a recording. Since then, he’s performed around the world with both major and independent artists, while also finding opportunities to write and record alongside leading names in the industry. Although he’d been sharing his studio sound for years, his recorded catalogue began to take shape with The Recital, his debut album in 2017, which he followed with Agape in 2019, before releasing Prism two years later.

Now, D Mills returns with his fourth full-length album titled Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Programming, a record which places his diverse skillset at the centre of the experience, with Danny handling the writing, production, mixing, mastering and performance of the instrumentation. Following the intro piece “Viewers Discretion,” the album kicks into gear with “Out of Your Mind” where shuffling drums and pulsing bass notes underpin Danny’s soulful vocals, crafting a bright pop-tinged soundscape brimming with smooth melodic leads and warm instrumentation.

“Can’t Keep Running” jumps into a grooving scene of rustling percussion and shimmering guitar chords which give way to D Mills’ bouncy vocal leads, crafting a buoyant jam that flows with alluring vocal layers and playful instrumental flickers. On “Eternal Paradise,” D Mills links up with Vann to craft an atmospheric outing propelled by pattering drums, catchy vocal leads and subtly moody tone, resulting in a dazzling duet between to the two artists.

“Gold” glows with woozy instrumental textures before the crisp taps of the beat brings in R&B-inflected vocals to serve up an infectious soul pop anthem while “Let’s Get Down” brings popping bass grooves and bright brass pips as the vocals of D Mills and Tess Mohr ring out above a funk-driven arrangement to deliver a stunning sound that’s truly impossible not to love. “Safe” offers a more intimate sound with downtempo rhythms rolling below breezy guitar textures and mellow vocals, showcasing D Mills’ songwriting flair and sonic range. With “Love You,” the misty blend of airy instrumentation and chiming tones are met by the enticing vocals of Sheléa, offering a timeless slice of blissfully soulful music that’s memorable and enduring throughout.

Closing the album with “I Will (The Light),” the soft flutter of piano and steady pulse of kick combine as Maiya Sykes takes the mic to lay down silky melodic leads while D Mills spins slick rapped flows, resulting in an instantly catchy finale to D Mills’ sensational new album. With Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Programming, D Mills continues a journey that began at sixteen, connecting the influence of varied musical traditions with the freedom of a multi-instrumentalist and the independence of a self-contained studio artist, resulting in a spectacular LP that’s sure to charm new and existing listeners alike.

Listen to Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Programming below