Canadian folk-rock artist Dany Horovitz captures that moment when you realize time heals on his joyful debut single, “Moving On.”
The lead single in advance of Dany’s forthcoming debut album, Free Times, due early this year, “Moving On” takes the ‘moving’ part of its title — moving, as in high energy — very seriously. The Toronto-based singer-songwriter calls this jubilant stomper “an upbeat folk-pub song about the moment you’re no longer heartbroken”; think The Lumineers plus a few beers.
Knowing so many playlists are packed top-to-bottom with romantic pathos, Dany gathered inspiration from personal experience for “Moving On” and opted instead to shine a light on a bright, new day after the dark drama.
“We focus a lot on the agony of a breakup,” he explained, “but one day, some time after my heart had been broken, I became aware of feeling great for the first time in a while and wanted to capture that feeling.”
Dany riffed on those good feelings and wrote down everything he could about them.
“Then, I worked on and refined my thoughts until it became a song,” he said. “Our protagonist telling his tale in a pub to friends, and everyone relating, eventually joining in the chorus.”
And all my haunting memories,
They do not mean a thing to me,
They’ve faded and I know I lost my marbles.
But I kept my promise too,
I met the night, saw it through.
And so I pack my bags and I am leaving,
Moving on.
The jovial, Beatles-style double/single handclaps and foot stomps in “Moving On” reform that old school rock sound for the modern era. It’s an influence that hits very close to home for the Montréal-born artist.
“My grandfather, who was a watchmaker by trade, had a record store franchise in Montréal when I was growing up,” he said in a recent interview with the podcast Music From Friends. “So, my parents always had great records in the house. We’d always be listening to a very old style of music. It would be ‘50s and ‘60s rock ‘n’ roll.”
His father would play Beatles songs on guitar for him and his brother, and eventually, Dany started picking up his dad’s guitar and writing his own songs.
He lists his main influences as Leonard Cohen, Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor and Bryan Adams, along with Gordon Lightfoot and Stan Rogers. Dany’s lyrics are stories of love, loss and life, drawing inspiration from ancient poets, modern philosophers and personal experiences.
“When you go to McGill and you’re in literature, the ghost of Leonard Cohen is everywhere,” he said. “I mean that in the best of senses!”
However, even though this songwriter has a literature degree, don’t expect a bunch of academic and pedantic prose. First and foremost, Dany writes songs to be enjoyed — and he hopes you enjoy them, starting with this one.
“Moving On,” from the forthcoming debut album Free Times, is available now.
