Despite their incredibly ambitious concept, I’ve failed to really connect with any of Kingdom’s comebacks. Debut effort Excalibur was a promising first foray but followup singles Karma and Black Crown harnessed a sound over substance approach that didn’t really live up to the potential that I saw buried within. And though new single Ascension suffers from the same issues as its predecessors, its accompanying album is the groups strongest recording yet. B-sides like Illusion and especially Blinder are excellent deep cuts and follow up single The Song Of Dann (Promise) is probably the strongest distillation of the groups concept in musical form we’ve heard yet.
As someone who is a sucker for anything inspired by traditional instrumentation, I was always going to have some fondness towards this track. But while I had initially expected it to only pop a few times to support the production like it had in the groups other singles, The Song Of Dann doesn’t pussyfoot around its influences in the slightest, diving head first into a gorgeous production that makes full use of its traditional instrumentation. This is especially notable during the tracks utterly transcendent extended post chorus, which harnesses a stunning layered vocal arrangement alongside an equally potent backing track to create a real highlight of a moment.
The Song Of Dann may not be the flashiest or loudest of any of the groups singles but it’s easily the most melodically inclined. I adore the yearning melody that opens the hook. It’s expertly calibrated, pulling at the heartstrings without feeling overbearing or forced in its delivery. I love songs that go in this direction and The Song Of Dann does exactly that. I’m not always the biggest fans of ballads being promoted and usually prefer more upbeat fare but when a track is as well arranged and focused as The Song Of Dann, it’s hard not to be utterly won over. And while I would have loved Blinder to get the follow up treatment, I’m in now way complaining that this song got it instead. I liked it without the music video but its inclusion has only made me love the song even more. This is easily my favourite Kingdom single yet.
Verses: 8
Chorus: 9
Production: 9
Performance: 9
Final Rating: 8.75 / 10
KBopped 
Yeah, this song is an above-average Kingdom song. Their concept is still the best thing about them still though.
LikeLike