With his teens fed by a diet of 80s and 90s guitar rock, Allen took a more introspective direction when he began writing songs.

Out went the big riffs and in came Dylanesque style storytelling wrapped in an energetic solo-acoustic delivery.

His style immediately grabbed the attention of James Blunt who claimed, “There’s something exciting about the music of DD Allen. Sort of a cross between Neil Young and Jake Bugg with a great deal of honesty in lyrics.”

But the young songwriter didn’t stay solo for long. Irritated by a folk circuit that found his sound too edgy, Allen took a path inspired by his peers and went electric.

His debut single Just Like The Old Days (Oct 2016) arrived with all the energetic intent of a Killer’s anthem and found immediate support from Indie Shuffle.

The sophomore release Rebecca’s Curse (Jun 2017) premiered on Atwood Magazine, striving to carve out its own space and rise above the mainstream by emerging as a subtle and poignant statement to despair.

Allen’s 3rd single, Never Felt So Far From You (Feb 2018), saw a brief excursion into Americana and placement on Spotify’s official ‘Fresh Finds’ playlist.

Continuing to find favour with an audience intrigued by Allen’s persistent reinvention, 2019 saw a return to the singer’s early rock guitar influences with a 2-track EP release called Bad Love.

The same-titled lead single served as a homage to The Rolling Stones early ‘Exile on Main Street’ period. While Just a Little More saw a nod to the influences of heartland rock’s finest with a rousing sing-along chorus “On the streets tonight, the songs all call your name.”

But in all of this, lay a hint that DD Allen is an artist perpetually evolving his sound.

After a brief excursion into pop-rock with his early 2020 release Seattle Lights, Allen reveals prominent 80s inspiration with I See You In the Dark.

And between the two 2020 releases comes a subtle twist of unintended irony:

Allen wrote Seattle Lights in the festive season outdoor bar-buzz and bright lights of his hometown, Bournemouth, in the UK.

I See You in the Dark is written in a different time. When the lights aren’t shining so bright during the pandemic.

“Although I wrote I See You in the Dark about a broken romance, managing isolation, and the ‘yearning for what was and might be again’. . . the narrative seems to have a wider context in today’s climate,” he claims. “People have lost a lot of the buzz that makes life so great. But we know it’ll all come back.”

I See You in the Dark is released worldwide on 13 November 2020.