The most spectral force in contemporary pop-rock, Daizie Darker, is no stranger to crafting songs that cut deep and leave a lingering mark. Raised in San Antonio, Texas, before making her way through Berklee College of Music and eventually relocating to Utah, she’s spent years refining a sound that merges raw emotion with sonic precision. With a voice sharpened by musical theatre techniques, courtesy of her vocal coach Darrin Newhardt, and an affinity for the powerhouse vocalists of the 90s and 2000s, Daizie possesses with her vocal range.
Her latest single, SHADOWS, is a testament to that intensity. Melodic 90s rock guitars angularly blossom through the moody atmosphere in the intro, building into a blistering chorus where Daizie’s voice mesmerises, whether tempered in quiet reflection or unleashed in impassioned melancholic catharsis. The track is a raw confrontation with scars, one that allows listeners to reframe their pain through Daizie’s poetically meta lyricism.
With one of the most affecting voices in the alternative scene in 2025, Daizie Darker is a siren in the form of a powerhouse, a poet in the guise of an unreckonable force. The momentum behind her is bound to catch up with the fervour she pours into her viscerally raw yet sonically cultivated sound.
SHADOWS is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify.
Review by Amelia Vandergast